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THE 



ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD 



OH, 



PHILOSOPHY OP HUMAN IMMORTALITY, 



AS DEDUCED FROM 



THE TEACHINGS OF THE SCRIPTURE WRITERS, 



IN REFERENCE TO 



"THE RESURRECTION.' 



BY JASON LEWIS. 



tr Oti Ss systQovrai oi vsxqoi xai JMcjOtjg Eut;vvos. i3 
"Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed." 



BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED BY A. TOMPKINS, 

38 & 40 CORNHILL. 

1860, 



r a^ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, 

BY JASON LEWIS, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Western District 
of Pennsylvania. 



PREFACE. 



The An-a-sta-sis of the Dead/' instead of the Resur- 
rection of the Dead, may seem improper, it being un- 
usual ; but if for that which is scripturally symbolized 
by those expressions, we really must use a term other 
than the plain Anglo-Saxon "rising," (or "raising,") 
why not sometimes ana-stasis, from a word out of the 
original Greek of the Evangelists and Apostles, as well 
as always resurrection, from a word out of the Latin 
Version of the Romish Church ? 

The author of the following work is entirely confi- 
dent that its leading theme — the scripture doctrine of 
the anastasis or rising of the dead — has a most inti- 
mate connection with the true philosophy of the after- 
death life ; hence that were the subject generally viewed 
in its true light, thousands would come to regard it 
with a great degree of interest, who now seem to con- 
sider it as scarcely worthy a moment's consideration. 
For these reasons and others, he deems such a work 
called for; and in the spirit of that scripture which 
says, " I believed, therefore have I spoken," he, be- 
lieving, has therefore written, regretting only that he 
does not wield an abler pen. 



IV PREFACE. 

In pursuing the course that appeared to be marked 
out for him, he has found himself, in some instances, 
quite out of the beaten track ; but at such times the 
light from the holy Book has seemed to shine more 
brightly along the way, indicating, — as is believed, — 
the primitive path. 

That form of faith which regards the rising of the 
dead, even as the death of the living, to be a normal 
process, provided for by the author of man's nature, 
and, through spiritual agencies, going on continually, — 
the whole in accordance with the original laws of our 
being, — is doubtless, not quite unknown to the chris- 
tian public ; yet such a belief is thought not to be 
enunciated in any of the creeds ; and the number of 
those professing it is obviously not large ; — the writer, 
therefore, for sheer loneliness as to this, has made a 
somewhat frequent use of the first and third persons 
singular. 

It being impossible to do the subject anything like 
justice without correcting sundry erroneous renderings 
in the common English version of the scripture s, it has 
hence been necessary to advert to the Greek of the 
New Testament more frequently than is to be desired 
in a work designed for general reading. 

While he has not altogether neglected availing him- 
self of the helps within his reach, he has not thought 
proper to load the pages of his work w r ith references to 
writers, however eminent, excepting only the writers 
of the scriptures. 

In quotations from the scripture writers, the Common 
Version is followed, for the most part, w r ith the excep- 



PREFACE. V 

tion that a few merely verbal changes are made, (out 
of the many which should be,) as to for "unto/' — 
those for " they " or " them,' ? when used as a definitive 
or demonstrative pronoun, — who for "which/' when 
relating to a person or persons. And whenever any 
material departure from its renderings is deemed indis> 
pensable, due notice is usually given at the time; since 
probably, no translation was ever more religiously 
venerated than is this, excepting, perhaps, the Vulgate 
Latin. 

In citing scriptural testimony, only so much — in 
general — is given of a text, or of a passage, as is 
adapted to the illustration, or to the proof, of the point 
then in hand. 

Throughout the work, it is constantly taken for 
granted that a general doctrinal harmony among the 
several parts of the scriptures truly exists ; also, that 
such harmony will be apparent if to the language of 
each text shall be given the rightful interpretation. 
And it is held that, in most cases, the surest method 
of determining the true sense of any portion of the 
sacred writings, is, to compare scripture with scrip- 
ture. 

That the work may prove instrumental in correcting 
some of the doctrinal errors extant among christians, — 
that it may tend to induce in the minds of believers a 
faith having more of the scriptual vitality and reforma- 
tory power manifested in the apostolic age, — that it 
may lead to the more general profession of a hope 
which, taking firm, unfailing hold of the spiritual un- 
seen, is, therefore, steadfast, lively, purifying, and sat- 



VI PREFACE. 

isfactory, — in a word, that it may, to some appreciable 
extent, promote the best interests of the cause of chris- 
tian truth, — is the sincere desire of the writer ; and its 
accomplishment, by the blessing of God, will be his 
best reward. J. L. 

December, 1859. 



CONTENTS OF THE WOEK. 



1 o I 

CHAPTER I. 
Jewish Opinions 9 

CHAPTER H, 
Scriptural Definitions 17 

[CHAPTER III. 
The Same — Continued 26 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Same — Continued . . . 36 

CHAPTER V. 
The Same — Continued 47 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Same — Continued 54 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Same — Concluded 64 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Mortalization in Adam 75 

CHAPTER IX. 
Annihilation 79 

CHAPTER X. 
Death of the Soul 90 

CHAPTER XI. 
Sleep of the Soul ... 97 

CHAPTER XII. 
The Same — Concluded 104 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Resurrection of the Earthly Body . . . 113 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Doctrine of Two Resurrections 124 

CHAPTER XV. 
The Same — Concluded. 130 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Last or General Judgment 143 

CHAPTER XVIL 
The Same — Concluded — '. 151 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Endless Punishment 162 



VI 11 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Same— Concluded 171 

CHAPTER XX. 
The Last-Day Resurrection 182 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Disembodied State and Simultaneous Universal Resurrection. 194 

CHAPTER XXII. 

A General Objection against many of the Popular Views re- 
lating to the Resurrection , 198 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Concerning Angels 203 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

The Same — Continued 215 

CHAPTER XXV. 
The Same — Concluded 227 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
A Present or Passing Resurrection 237 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
The Same — Continued 246 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
The Same — Continued 253 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Same— Concluded 262 

CHAPTER XXX. 
The Manner of the Resurrection 268 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
The Primitive Gospel 277 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
Our Lord's Crucifixion, &c 283 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
Our Saviour's Resurrection, &c . . . - 293 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
Christ's Ascension . . . * 301 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
Proofs of a Future Life # 304 

CHAPTER XX^VL 

An Improved Translation of 1 Cor. xv 315 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 
The End of Human Mortality 324 



THE ANASTA8I8 OP THE DEAD. 



CHAPTER I. 



JEWIS H OPINIONS. 



In order that certain Scripture texts and pas- 
sages may be the more readily understood, the 
opinions of the Jews as to the resurrection, in the 
times of the New Testament writers, requires to 
be briefly set forth. Such a presentation is also 
desirable from the fact that although the distin- 
guishing doctrines of neither the Pharisees nor 
the Sadducees have been received entire among 
Christians, yet at least some small portion of " the 
leaven" of the one sect, or the other, or both,, 
seems to have been " hid in n — or incorporated 
with — nearly every creed in Christendom* 

From various passages in the New Testament, it 
appears that the sect of the Jews called " Phari- 
sees " admitted the fact of a resurrection ; but that 
those styled " Sadducees n denied it altogether. 
And as concerned this particular topic, the great 
mass of u the people/ 7 — analogous to those who, 
in these times, are denominated " non-professors/' 
— seem mostly to have sympathized with the 
Pharisees. 



10 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD, 

Many readers of the Bible appear to suppose, 
and without ever having suspected their error, 
that it was the Christian doctrine of the resurrec- 
tion which was held by the Pharisees and their 
adherents. Scarce anything, however, could be 
further from the truth. 

The Evangelist Luke relates that, at a certain 
time, our Lord asked his disciples who " the peo- 
ple said He was ; and that the disciples replied, 
" John, the Baptist ; but some say, Elias ; and 
others say, that one of the old prophets is risen 
again." 1 

It is also related that " Herod, the tetrarch, 
heard of all that was done by Him: and he was 
perplexed, because that it was said by some, that 
John was risen from the dead ; and by some, that 
Elias had appeared ; and by others, that one of the 
old prophets was risen again." From Matthew 
and Mark, it would seem that, after a little, the 
tetrarch actually got his mind made up in regard 
to Jesus, and said, " This is John the Baptist ; he 
is risen from the dead. 772 

From these Scriptures, it is easy to see that the 
rising therein mentioned, was thought to be to a 
state of mortality on the earth. In other words, it 
was a sort of metempsychosis, or soul transmigra- 
tion, which it is presumed no one supposes to be 
the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the 
dead. 

That the Phariseedoctrine concerning the resur- 
rection was equivalent, so far as it went, to the 
Pythagorean doctrine of transmigration, is appar- 
ent also from the writings of Josephus, the Jewish 
historian, who represents the Pharisees as believ- 
ing, in opposition to the Sadducees, " that souls 

1 Luke ix. 18, 19. 

2 Luke ix. 7, 8; Matt. xiv. 1, 2; Mark yi. 14, 16. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 11 

have an immortal vigor in them/' and that such as 
" have lived virtuously, .... shall have power to 
revive and live again." He also declares of them, 
11 They say that all souls are incorruptible, but that 
the souls of good men only are removed into other 
bodies. 77 1 

It may perhaps be true, as some have supposed, 
that by " good men," in the last quotation, Jose- 
phus secretly meant Israelites, or the descendants 
of Abraham, — in a word, Jews,- — irrespective of 
other good qualities. If so, then this was actually 
the Pharisees- doctrine; and then, too, it would 
seem to have been for the purpose of correcting 
this national assumption of inherited righteous- 
ness, that Jesus pronounced Zaccheus, the publi- 
can, to be "a son of Abraham,' 7 his conduct being 
good ; and also said of Nathaniel, a Jew, (which 
perhaps Zaccheus was not,) " Behold an Israel- 
ite indeed ! 7 ' adding, — to show what made him an 
Israelite so emphatically, — " in whom is no guile." 
Paul also wrote, " He is a Jew who is one inward- 
ly; 7 ' and John, the baptizer, — the Elias of that 
age, — lectured the Pharisees and Sadducees most 
severely upon that same topic. 

(Would that in this nineteenth century, some Elias- 
John, or John-Elias, might be •" sent from God, 77 
with the ability effectually to arouse the Pharisees 
and Sadducees of the Christian world, to the pro- 
priety and duty of manifesting the practical 
" fruits 77 of faith in him whose " law 7 ' for the 
regulation of social intercourse, behold, is it not 
written in Matt. vii. 12?) 

But however the facts may have been at the 
time Josephus wrote, it is evident that in our 
Saviour's day it was thought to be quite possible 

1 Antiquities of the Jews, Book xviii. chap, i, section 3; Jewish 
War, Book n. chap. viii. sect. 14. 



12 THE ANASTASIS OF THE BEAD. 

for the soul of a Jewish sinner to pass into an other 
body ; and that such soul was likely to be punish- 
ed, in its new tabernacle, with some physical 
calamity or defect. Thus John tells us that in 
reference to a man " blind from his birth/' Christ's 
disciples asked of Christ, " Master, who did sin, this 
man, or his parents, that he was born blind V — 
as much as to ask whether he was born thus as a 
punishment to himself, for sins committed in a 
previous life, or as a punishment to his parents 
for their sins. 1 

Prom the same evangelist we also learn that 
after Jesus had bestowed on this man the gift of 
sight, the Pharisees, unable to refute his argument, 
that Christ must have been sent from God seeing 
He had done so great a miracle, vented their spite 
against him, not only by ejecting him from the 
synagogue, but also by taunting him in these 
words : " Thou wast altogether born in sins, and 
dost thou teach us ? " 2 

The phrase "born in sins" has been taken, — 
though unusually, — as a proverbial expression, 
importing simply that the person to whom it is 
applied is a great sinner. This I admit to be its 
meaning, by implication ; yet, from the circum- 
stance that it was applied to the blind man by some 
of " the Pharisees/ 7 as John is particular to inform 
us, I can not resist the conviction that the sense 
they intended to convey by it is specifically this, 
that the sins of a former life adhered to him at his 
birth, so that he was, as it were, enveloped in sins 
when born. There can be no doubt that they 
meant to denounce him as a very great sinner ; but 
in what way could they do this any more readily, 
than by twitting him of having had an accumula- 
tion of sins to begin life with ? 

1 John ix. 2. 2 John ix. 34. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 13 

This case also throws some light upon the sup- 
posed manner and time of such resurrections, or 
soul transmigrations ; since it was evidently thought 
that the pre-existent soul of the blind man was born 
with him. So, also, when the people accounted for 
the teachings and miracles of Jesus, that in him 
was exemplified the rising of Elias, or some one of 
the old prophets, they unquestionably deemed that 
whose soul soever He possessed, it had inhabited 
his body from the first. 

But this passing of the soul before or at birth, 
was not supposed to be the only period of its 
migration, though it likely was thought to be the 
ordinary one. When it was said by Herod and 
others, that John, the Baptist,- — the time of whose 
death was but a little while previous, — had arisen 
from the dead, and was to be seen in the person 
of Jesus of Nazareth, it is manifest that if they 
thought as they spoke, they must have thought 
that the soul of John had taken an adult body. 

The supposed resurrection of the Baptist in the 
person of the Saviour, may also serve to show how 
very closely connected were the notions of the 
Pharisees concerning the resurrection, and their 
notions in regard to persons being " possessed " 
with demons. (" Devils/' in the Com. Ver.) It is 
a fact that the possessing spirits or " devils ;; in 
which they believed, — properly demons, — were 
supposed by them to be the spirits of dead per- 
sons. See chap. vii. of this w T ork. 

In the case above adverted to, of John's resur- 
rection, as supposedly witnessed in Christ, if it was 
thought, as it seemingly must have been, that the 
soul of the Baptist had taken up its abode in 
Christ's body, and had either dispossessed its former 
occupant, or else was holding it in complete sub- 
jection, w\herein does this differ, as to the philosophy 
2* 



14 THE ANASTASIS OP THE BEAD. 

of the thing, from possession by devils or demons? 
The modus operandi of the two are manifestly 
Identical, they differing only as the character of 
the inhabiting spirits were supposed to differ. 
Thus, 

" Herod," astonished at the report of our Lord's 
"mighty works/ 7 ' * concluded that the soul of John 
was acting through him, John being probably the 
only prophet he had ever heard much about, and 
he having put John to death. u The people," en- 
tertaining a favorable opinion of Jesus as a relig- 
ious teacher, either came to the same conclusion 
as Herod, or else supposed that the soul of some 
ancient prophet was in him. " The Scribes and 
Pharisees/ 7 who hated him, and sought to destroy 
his influence, alleged that he had a devil or demon. 

Note. The demons or possessing spirits believed 
in by the Jews at this period, seem to have been 
uniformly evil-disposed. 



The Sadducees not only rejected the Pharisee 
resurrection, but also seem to have contended that 
all there is of man dies at the death of the body. 
Josephus declares expressly, il The doctrine of the 
Sadducees is this, that souls die with the bodies." 
Again, he tells us " that they take away the belief 
of the immortal duration of the soul." 1 In Acts, 
we read, "For the Sadducees say that there is no 
resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit ; but the 
Pharisees confess both." 2 

Taking the above quotations together, it is 
apparent that the Sadducees denial of any resur- 

* It would seem that the tetrarch had been absent from the coun- 
try for a time. 

1 Antiquities, Book xviii. chap. i. sec. 3 ; Jewish War, Book n. 
chap. "viii. sec. 14. 

2 Acts xxiii. 8. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 15 

rection, was equivalent to a denial of any after- 
death life. Also, that their denial of the existence 
of spirits and angels, was not in regard to the 
existence of spirits or souls in earthly bodies, nor 
in regard to men ? s being sometimes sent from God, 
and so being at such times His angels or messen- 
gers ; — but simply in regard to there being any 
spirits, or any angels, apart from earthly bodies ; 
they holding that when the body dies the spirit 
dies with it, and so has no further existence. 



Having spoken of Elias in connection with John 
the Baptist, it may not be uncalled for to offer 
some remarks illustrative of those passages which 
speak of the coming of the former as fulfilled in 
the advent of the latter. 

From a promise recorded in the last two verses 
of the Old Testament, the Jews had naturally im- 
bibed the idea that the prophet Elijah — , " Elias," 
in Greek, — would come personally upon earth 
before the advent of their expected Messiah or 
Christ. Hence when John the Baptist appeared, 
and commenced his career as a religious reformer, 
"the Jews 57 — , as John the Evangelist informs 
us, — " sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem 
to ask him, " Who art thou ? " And when he" had 
" confessed v that he was " not the Christ," they 
asked him, "What then? Art thou Elias?" To 
which he unequivocally responded, u I am not." 
And yet, according to an other evangelist, it was 
actually declared by the very Christ himself that 
John was Elias. 1 

The apparent contradiction which these state- 
ments present, will wholly disappear by duly con- 
sidering certain circumstances : 

1 Jolm i. 19-21; Matt. xi. 14; xvii. 13. 



16 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

1. An angel had prophesied to Zacharias, that 
his son John should go before the Lord " in the 
spirit and jpoiver of Elias ; also, that he should 
"turn the hearts of the fathers to the children," 
&c. ; and this last is the very work which, accord- 
ing to Malachi, was to be done by Elijah the pro- 
phet, 1 

2. When we read of the Priests and Levites 
going to ask John who he was, we are very care- 
fully informed that his questioners were " of the 
Pharisees," 2 who, as we have seen, held the doc- 
trine of the transmigration of souls. 

In the light of the above-mentioned circum- 
stances, the following view of the subject would 
seem to be the correct one : 

When the Baptist denied being Elias, he merely 
denied that the soul or spirit of " Elijah the Tish- 
bite " inhabited his body. But when Jesus affirmed 
that John was Elias, he affirmed that he was so in 
the Scriptural sense, by manifesting that prophet's 
spirit and power, which is to say, his manner, and 
his efficiency. He was Elias, in the sense intended 
in Malachi. He was not Elias, in the sense in 
which that prediction was understood by many of 
the Jews at the time of John's appearance. 

With the above view of the case, how interest- 
ing to note that the evangelist, when he tells of 
John's being questioned as to who he was, takes 
pains to add, as we have before said, what may 
have often been deemed a worthless remark, " And 
those who were sent were of the Pharisees." 

How careful also was Jesus to qualify his decla- 
ration as to John's being Elias ! " If ye will receive 
it" said he, — that is, if you will take what I am 
about to say in the right sense, — "this is Elias 
who was to come." 

1 Luke i. 17; Mai. iy. 5, 6. * John i. 24. 



CHAPTER II. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS; 

Ok Remakes upon the Sckiptttkal usage akd significations op 
certain words and phkases employed by the scripture 
writers in connection with the subject of the after-death 
Life and its "Relations. 



[It not unfrequently happens that an author's meaning is sadly 
misapprehended from the fact of his neglecting to acquaint his 
readers in what sense he uses some particular word or words of 
doubtful import. The writing of this, and of seyeral subsequent 
chapters, has been undertaken partly on this account, the author 
of the present work being greatly desirous that his language shall 
be properly and fully understood.] 

The spirit or soul of man is that entity which 
possesses and exercises the faculty of thinking, 
whose organ is the body as a whole. In other 
words, "the soul 7 ' or "the spirit 77 of a man, is 
the man himself, considered apart from his bodily 
organization. Yet the words " spirit" and " soul, 7 ' 
like the Greek terms so rendered, are used in a 
variety of significations, both in the Scriptures 
and elsewhere. (Note. In this work, I use those 
terms in the sense above specified, unless I intimate 
to the contrary.) 

The Greek word usually rendered " spirit " is 
nvevfia, — 2 meuma ) primarily denoting toind, from the 
verb pneOy to blow. As employed in the New Testa- 
ment, pneuma signifies, for the most part, spirit ; a 
spiritual being ; a spiritual influence ; temper of 



8 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

mind. It is once rendered " wind ;' 7 " The wind 
bloweth where it listeth. 7 ' (John iii. 8.) In one 
passage, it has the sense of apparition, or unreal 
appearance. Thus, 

In Luke's Gospel, we are told that when Jesus 
showed himself to His disciples in the evening of 
the day of his resurrection, they, at first, were 
very greatly frightened, supposing Him to be "a 
spirit ; 7? and that, upon this, He showed them his 
hands and his feet, reasoned with them in regard 
to their fears, invited them to handle him, and said, 
" a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me 
have.' 7 1 Here pneuma seems to be twice used for 
pliantasma, the word made use of by both Matthew 
and Mark in relating that the disciples, in great 
terror, cried out, " It is a spirit" when they saw 
Jesus walking on the sea. 2 Pliantasma imports 
phantasm, phantom, apparition, special illusion, &c. 

The Greek word usually rendered " soul ' 7 is 
yvxy — psuche,— frequently Anglicised into psyche, 
— primarily denoting breath, from the verb p )SUC ^°) 
to breathe. As used in the New Testament, it 
denotes soul, as synonymous with spirit ; a person; 
a living creature or animal; one's own self ; human 
bodily life. ■ In one place in the Common Version, 
it is twice rendered " life ' 7 in one sentence ; and 
then, in the next sentence, is twice rendered 
" soul. 77 3 

The expressions " my soul," " his soul,' 7 &c, are 
sometimes scripturally put for the mere pronouns, 
I, me, he, him, &c. Thus Jesus, in the garden of 
Gethsemane, instead of saying, "I am exceedingly 
sorrowful,' 7 &c, emplo3 r ed the style of the ancient 
prophets, and, to his three attendant disciples, 
emphatically, plaintively, pleadingly said, " My soul 

1 Luke xxiv. 37-39. 2 Matt. xiv. 26 ; Mark vi. 49. 
3 Matt. xvi. 25, 26 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 19 

is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death : tarry ye 
here, and watch with me." } 

The life of the body, denominated physical, 
corporeal, or animal life, is that power, or prin- 
ciple, or whatever else it may he called, in con- 
nection with which this earthly body or organiza- 
tion is built up and sustained. Hence dying, in 
the ordinary sense of speaking, is but the departure 
of the life-power from the body. 

There are two principal Greek words rendered 
" life." The one is psuche, often rendered " soul," 
and already defined ; the other, £«ij — zoe, from 
the verb zao, (originally zoo,) to live, to be alive. 
Zoe denotes, for the most part, a mode or manner 
of being, literal or figurative. 

The word man (, Greek antliropos,) more usually 
includes in its meaning both the body and the 
spirit or soul ; but, in a few instances, it has refer- 
ence merely to the body. Tet, philosophically, 
the spirit or soul is the man, and his body is merely 
the organism by means of which he holds inter- 
course with the world around him. 

Some consider man to be a compound being, 
apart from his organization, they having discover- 
ed, as they inform us, that there are two distinct 
and opposite principles in man, the one, good, the 
other, evil. Yet these principles — , granting their 
existence, — are manifestly but attributes of the 
spirit or soul ; and they no more show that each 
human being exists in a state of duality, than the 
various propensities and sentiments common to 
men show that each individual has twenty-five, or 
fifty, or one hundred souls. 

Death is often represented as a falling, especially 
in accounts of battles, a dead body being incapable 

1 Matt. xxvi. 38. See also Acts ii. 27, 31 ; Ps. xvi. 10; Judges x. 16. 



20 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

of maintaining an erect position. This mode of 
speech seems to have prevailed from very remote 
antiquity, it being met with in the books of Moses. 1 
So, also, as a carrying out of this figure, the idea 
of coming to life, after actual death, and the idea 
of being brought to life, under such circumstances, 
have been commonly expressed by rising, and by 
being raised — regaining an erect position, and 
being caused to regain it. Such act and such 
state are usually expressed in English by the word 
" resurrection. 7 ' 

In -like manner, dying is frequently symbolized 
by sleeping, the expressions, to sleep, to have slept, 
and the like, being employed in the sense of to 
die 7 to have died, &c. Sleep is thus put for death 
probably to intimate an after-death life ; since, to 
all minds, sleeping unequivocally implies waking. 
And in accordance with this usage, is the fact that 
one of the Greek words for rising, raising, and 
being raised, when the dead are in mention, pri- 
marily signifies to awake, to be awaked, &c. 

There are two words in the Greek Testament 
rendered " rise/ 9 " raise, 5 ' &c, in connection with 
the subject of the future life. These are avunrm* 

— anisiemi, and eysi^co — egeiro, the latter of which 
has frequently the passive form, egeiromai, to be 
raised. In like manner, 

There are two Greek words rendered " resurrec- 
tion. 77 These are avaazacns — anastasis, and eye^ats 

— egersis. The latter, however, occurs in the 
New Testament but once. (Matt, xxvii. 53.) 

Th6 Greek verb anistemi comes from the prepo- 
sition ana, again, and the verb istemi, to stand. It 
consequently signifies to stand again, that is, to 
rise to an erect position ; or, transitively, to cause 
to stand again, that is, to raise. It may also some- 

1 Genesis xiv. 10; Exodus xxxii. 28; Numbers xiv. 29. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 21 

times have the sense of to arouse, as if from a state 
of inactivity. In the 'passive sense, to he raised or 
aroused, it is not often used. 

The verb egeiro primarily signifies to awaken, at 
if from sleep, or to arouse, as if from inaction ; yes, 
in the New Testament, it is much more commonly 
used in the sense of to raise, or, when having the 
passive form, in the sense of to be raised. Though 
it sometimes signifies merely to awake, it seldom 
or never, in the New Testament, has the mere in- 
transitive sense of to rise, though it is often made 
to bear that sense in the common version. See 
chap, xxxiii. of this work. 

Anistemi supposes the riser to have fallen from 
a standing posture, as if by some casualty ; egeiro, 
his having reclined, as if for sleep or rest. Accord- 
ingly, a return from death as if from sleep, is more 
naturally expressed by egeiro than by anistemi. 
In one text, where both words occur in the same 
sentence, the former is rendered " awake/ 7 and the 
latter " arise : /,J "Awake thou who sleepest, and 
arise from the dead. 7 ' (Eph. v. 14.) 

The Greek noun anastasis, mostly rendered "re- 
surrection," is from ana, again, and stasis,, the act 
or state of standing, or causing to stand, or being 
caused to stand. (Stasis is from istemi.) Anastasis, 
therefore signifies the act or state of rising, rais- 
ing, or being raised. 

The noun egersis is from the verb egeiro, and has 
the sense indicated by its derivation. 

The English word resurrection, from the Latin 
resurrectio, — and this from the Latin resurgo, 
compounded of re and surgo, — seems properly to 
import a re-rising, or rising again; but the Scrip- 
tures not having been written in either English or 
Latin, the question is not as to the original specific 
import of these words, but only as to that of the 
3 



22 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

Greek anastasis and its kindred terms. The pre- 
fix ana (, which, in composition, sometimes be- 
comes " aw,") has indeed the sense of re ; and if 
istemi, like surgo, signifies to rise, then anistemi 
would truly import to re-rise, or rise again. But 
seeing that istemi, by itself, signifies simply to 
stand, or to cause to stand, the prefix in mention 
does not give it the sense of to re-rise or re-raise, 
but simply to rise or raise, — literally to re-stand, 
or stand again, or get up, or cause some one to do 
so. And the like may be said of anastasis. 

So, also, since falling down expresses no more 
than falling, that is, when a mere standing posture 
on a level is what is fallen from, it seems at best a 
pleonasm — , an allowable one perhaps, — to speak 
of rising up, or of being raised up, after having 
fallen in such circumstances. Getting up, being 
set up, &c, are strictly proper expressions ; and 
these, by the way, are analogous to anistemi. 

The Greek terms rendered " rise," " raise," &c, 
are obviously used in a secondary sense when 
applied to the subject of life after death. 

In one passage at least, anastasis seems equiv- 
alent to resurrection world, or after-death mode of 
being. Thus the Sadducee doctors demanded of 
Christ, " In the anastasis whose wife," &c. ; and 
He responded, "In the anastasis they neither 
marry, nor are given in marriage." These Saddu- 
cees also, in the expression, " and raise up seed 
[or offspring] to his brother," employ the word 
anistemi in an unusual sense. 1 

In one passage also, egeiro (in the passive form) 
seems to be expressive of the growth or develop- 
ment of the resurrection body from the unfold- 
ment of a germ — , so to call it, — contained in the 
earthly body: "It is sown a natural [or animal] 

1 Matthew xxii. 24. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 28 

body; it is raised a spiritual body. (1 Cor. xv. 
44.) See chap. xxxv. 

The expression " the dead " has a plural force. 
It is analagous, in this respect, to the expres- 
sions " the living/' "the learned," "the wise/ 7 
"the wicked," &c. The like may be said of " hoi 
nekroi" the Greek expression for the dead, which, 
in all its variations of case, is plural not only 
in sense, but in form. It appears, then, that, in 
general, 

By " the dead n are meant the dead persons, 
which is to say, those who have died. The ex- 
pression may import dead bodies, as in certain 
texts in the Old Testament to be commented upon 
in chap, xvii; also, when it was said of Christ to 
the women at His tomb, " He is risen from the 
dead ; " also, when used the second time in the 
text, " Let the dead bury their dead." * But in 
this sense it is seldom used. 

The resurrection of the dead, and the resurrec- 
tion from the dead, are by no means synonymous 
expressions. In the former phras£, the dead are 
the ones that rise ; in the latter, the dead are those 
who are left by the person rising. 

" The resurrection of the dead " is a phrase ap- 
plicable to all or any who have died or are to die. 
Witness the words of Paul before Felix, concern- 
ing " a resurrection of the dead, both of the just 
and unjust ; " also his argument in 1 Corinthians, 
chapter xv, that as surely as Christ rose from the 
dead, so surely there is a resurrection of the dead. 
But, 

The resurrection from the dead is affirmed only 
of those few persons whose real or supposed ris- 
ings were, or were thought to be, manifest to the 

* " Let the spiritually dead do the burying of dead bodies." Free 
Translation of Luke ix. 60. 



24 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

senses of persons in the flesh ; as for example, 
Jesus of Nazareth, Lazarus of Bethany, John the 
Baptist in the person of Jesus, &c. 

An apparent exception to the statement that 
rising from the dead supposes being visible among 
mortals, is found in the well-known account of a 
conversation our Saviour had with the Sadducees. 
In two of the evangelists, the expression " from the 
dead " is applied by our Lord to the rising of the 
persons mentioned, notwithstanding He obviously 
did not intend to affirm that their rising was or 
would be into this mortal state. Yet, as I view 
the probabilities of the case, it was thought by his 
questioners that the rising of those persons was 
believed by Him to be into this mortal state ; for 
surely the resurrection held by the Pharisees was 
altogether of that sort ; and the Sadducees would 
very naturally suppose that that was his doctrine 
also. With this view of the matter, I seem to see 
very clearly why it was that in replying to the ob- 
jection which the Sadducees had so artfully wrap- 
ped up in their question, the guileless Saviour 
adopted, to a certain extent, the popular phrase- 
ology. To escape the charge of caviling, he 
avoided even the appearance of it. 

The Pharisees' resurrection was specifically a 
rising of the dead from the dead ; and so that 
form of expression had become common ; and so 
Christ employed it in his reply to the Sadducees. 
In like manner, when they asked, " In the resur- 
rection whose wife," &c, he made answer, " In the 
resurrection they neither marry/ 7 &c. They having 
used anastasis for resurrection world or state, He 
so used it in his reply. But with all this he was 
scrupulously careful that the matter of his reply 
should be such as that "the people/' if not also 
his questioners, could scarcely avoid seeing that 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 25 

the doctrine held by Him — , it being that of a 
rising to immortality, and of course not into this 
earthly state, — was by no means the same as that 
of the Pharisees ; and hence that to His doctrine 
the argument arising out of the Sadducees' puzzling 
question was totally irrelevant. 

In one place it does indeed seem as if the resur- 
rection from the dead were unequivocally used for 
the resurrection of the dead, and in such manner 
also as goes to show that the two phrases are 
strictly synonymous. This, however, is but a false 
seeming, arising, wholly or mainly, from a false 
translation. We are told in the common version, 
that Peter and John " preached through Jesus the 
resurrection from the dead." (Acts iv. 1, 2.) The 
Greek, however, is, " announced in Jesus, " &c. 
(En to IesoUj literally, "in the of Jesus, or "in 
that of Jesus.") That is, they announced the 
startling fact that " in the [case] of Jesus," there 
had lately occurred an actual rising of a human 
being out from among the company of the dead. 

3* 



CHAPTER III. 

SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS — CONTINUED. 

In the phrase " from the dead/' the word " from" 
is a rendering either of ano = apo, or of ex = ek 
(sometimes written e£ = ex.) The sense of these 
words, when employed as in the given phrase, is 
as follows : 

The Greek preposition apo, when used with a 
verb of motion, signifies " from " or " away from," 
in the sense of " away from the place of." 

The Greek preposition ek, (ex before a vowel,) 
when employed with a verb of motion, and follow- 
ed by a word in the singular number, signifies 
" out of" or "from," in the sense of " out from 
the interior of" the object in mention. But when 
followed by a plural word, and used with a verb 
of motion, the term ek or ex signifies " from " or 
" from among/' in the sense of " out from being 
among " the group or company mentioned. 

In illustration of the above, take, from among 
those few to be found, the following examples out 
of the common version, in which "out of" and 
u from among " are a rendering of the same pre- 
position : 

" There came a voice out of the cloud. 
Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. 
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 
Every high-priest taken from among men. 
Put away from among yourselves that wicked person." 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 27 

In the phrase " from the dead/' as it occurs in 
the New Testament, the word " from " is a render- 
ing of apo only four times in upward of forty. 
In three of those four instances, the reference to 
place is very express ; in the other, it is readily 
inferred. Thus, 

At the tomb of the Saviour, an angel said, 
" Come see the place where the Lord lay. And go 
quickly, and tell his disciples that He is risen from 
the dead." (Apo.) So, also, when a military 
guard was set around his tomb, it was done lest — , 
as his enemies foolishly feared, — his disciples 
should remove his body from that place by stealth, 
and then say, " He is risen from the dead. 7 ' (Apo.) 
So, too, in the parable, the Rich man finding him- 
self in a " place of torment," petitions his national 
father to have Lazarus sent to the house of his 
immediate father, for the purpose of warning his 
five brethren against coming to where he then 
was ; and on Abraham's suggesting that they, 
having Moses and the prophets, might receive suf- 
ficient warning from that source, he rejoins, with 
much earnestness, " Nay, father Abraham, but if 
one went to them from the dead," &C. 1 (Apo.) 

That in the three passages above adverted to, 
the phrase "from the dead" has the sense of 
" from the place of the dead," seems well-nigh self- 
declaratory. In the remaining passage, where one 
evangelist makes Herod to have used apo in saying 
that the Baptist had arisen from the dead, while an- 
other evangelist makes him to have employed the 
word ek, we may easily conceive that the tetrarch 
sometimes contemplated John as having just come 
away from a Pharisaic place of souls, and at other 
times as having come out from among the 
thousands there congregated; and that he ac- 

1 Matt, xxviii. 6, 7, xxvii. 62 66; Luke xvi. 27-31. 



28 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

cordingly used sometimes the one word, and some- 
times the other, and each in its proper specific 
sense. So, in the parable just adverted to, the 
Rich man uses apo in the phrase " from the dead/ 1 
but Abraham in his reply employs the word ek ; 
yet this does by no means show that the two words 
are synonymous. In the mind of the Rich man, 
locality is decidedly uppermost, he being, para- 
bolically, in a torment-giving place ; while, on the 
other hand, Abraham, at the close, is made to drop 
the figure of locality, and to declare the moral of 
the parable, namely, that the Jews, as a nation, 
being, as it were, deaf to the teachings of Moses 
and the prophets, were ready to reject Christianity 
though they should be favored with the highest 

evidence of its truth though One should arise 

" from the dead," that is, from among the dead. 

(m.) 

The expression " from the dead," as employed 
in connection with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 
occurs in the New Testament upward of twenty 
times. In only two of these instances is the pre- 
position apo used ; and then the reference is not to 

a place of souls, but simply to a place for bodies 

in a word, to the sepulcher in which he had been 
entombed. (See as already quoted.) In each of 
the other instances alluded to, ek is the word 
employed, referring not to the abode of the dead, 
but simply to the dead themselves, as a company 
contrasted with the dwellers upon earth. From 
this company he arose, that is, "from among," 
those who had died. 

The Greek noun d^« = hades (or haides or sim- 
ply ades) — , usually rendered " hell," though not 
the only word so rendered, — being derived from 
a, the Greek particle of privation or negation, and 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 29 

idein, an infinitive form of eido, to see, imports, of 
course, something not seen. It is hence appropri- 
ately used as a name for the state or condition of 
the dead, they being naturally invisible to physical 
sight from their lack of physical bodies. 

Note. In the heathen poets, in Josephus, and 
and in the works of various ancient writers, hades 
imports the place or abode of the dead ; but it has 
not this sense in the New Testament, except by a 
figure of speech, as will appear presently. 

Hades occurs in the New Testament eleven 
times. In the Common Version it is once rendered 
" grave ; ?? in the other instances " hell.' 7 

Hades is used in connection with some kind of 
resurrection, seven times in the New Testament. 
Thus Paul employs it once ; (rendered " grave ; ")• 
Peter, in his sermon at the day of Pentecost, quotes 
it once, and uses it once ; it occurs once in the 
parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, and twice in 
the judgment described in Revelations 20th ; and 
it is in the Revelations also, where the glorified 
Redeemer declares, " I am He who liveth, and was 
dead ; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen ; 
and have the keys of hell and of death." 1 

In the Parable above mentioned, hades is used as 
if really the name of a place, in like manner as the 
corresponding Hebrew word is employed in cer- 
tain highly figurative portions of the Old Testa- 
ment. (See as referred to below. 2 ) But in the 
other instances alluded to in the New Testament, it 
is evident hades is a name for a state or condition. 
Thus, 

When Peter, on the day of Pentecost, quoted 
from the 16th Psalm, " Thou wilt not leave my 

1 Cor. xv. 55; Acts ii. 27, 31; Luke xvi. 23: Rev. xx. 13, 14; i. IS. 
2 Isa. xiv, 9, 15; Ezek. xxxi. 16, 17; xxxii. 21,27: Deut. xxxii. 
22 ; Jonah ii. % 



30 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD; 

soul [, that is, " me/] in hell," &c, and applied it 
to ** the resurrection of Christ, that His soul 
[, meaning " that He/'] was not left in hell, neither 
his flesh did see corruption," the apostle evidently 
referred to the facts that our Lord did not long 
remain in the condition of invisibility common to 
the dead, but on the third day appeared again 
among mortals, and was seen by the physical eye 
although He was truly immortal, having thus come 
out, as it were, from among the dead before his 
body was attacked by putrefaction. 

I do not deny that the dead are in some place. 
I do not deny that Christ was in some place while 
in the invisible state. Perhaps during that period 
he visited several places. A little before his de- 
parture, he certainly anticipated being that very 
day " in Paradise, n which certainly seems to be a 
place, and to be at least analogous to " the third 
heaven," if not identical with it. It is the opinion 
also of sundry expositors, that between Friday 
afternoon and Sunday morning He personally 
literally " ivent and preached to the spirits in 
prison," 1 which last term seems indicative of a 
locality somewhat diverse from those just mention- 
ed. But I do deny that hades, in the Scriptures, 
except by a rhetorical figure, signifies either " the 
place of the dead," as affirmed by some of the 
more liberal critics, or " the place of departed 
spirits," as taught in the Book of Common Prayer. 
I contend that hades properly imports an invisible 
state or condition ; and that this term is used for 
the state of the dead from the circumstance of 
their being naturally invisible to us. 

That hades, in the Scriptures, does not properly 
signify a place, is clearly evinced by its being, in 
several instances, coupled with death, which term 

1 Luke xxiii. 43; 2 Cor. xii. 1-4; 1 Peter iii. 18-20. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 31 

is undeniably expressive of a state or condition. 
Thus Jesus claims to have " the keys of hades ;" 
yet hades is not thereby shown to be a place ; for 

His affirmation is, "I have the keys of 

hades and of death" If hades is a place, then so 
is death; but the term death, as here used, indis- 
putably imports a condition. At the figurative 
judgment set forth in Rev. 20th, " death and hades 
delivered up the dead which were in them," and 
afterward " death and hades were cast into the lake 
of fire," which shows that hades is a name for a 
condition as much as is death. So, in vision, death 
was seen riding forth " on a pale horse/' " and 
hades followed with him"; — one condition or 
state of things being closely followed by an other 
condition or state. 

Corresponding to hades, in the mere etymological 
sense of that noun, as something that is not seen, 
is the adjective aid tog == aidios , which occurs in two 
texts, and is rendered in the one " eternal," and in 
the other, " everlasting " : 

" For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the 
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that 
are made, even His eternal (aidios) power and Godhead." 
Rom. 1. 20. 

" And the angels who kept not their first estate, he 

hath reserved in everlasting (aidios) chains under darkness, to 
the judgment of the great day." Jude 6. 

Aidios is commonly taken to be derived from aei, 
always ; and so has been rendered as above. Out- 
side of the New Testament, it perhaps has a sense 
corresponding to such a derivation ; but I am con- 
vinced that in the New Testament, its true sense is 
such as it would naturally have were it derived 
from the same that hades is — in other words, that 
in the two texts above quoted aidios has the sense 
of " unseen." 



32 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

What could be more natural than the sense 
indicated by the following rendering of the text 
from Romans, the members of the sentence being 
so arranged as to exhibit the parallelism common 
in Jewish writings ? 

" For the Invisible things of Him, 

[Even] His unseen Power and Godhood, 
Are clearly perceived 
From the creation of the world, 

Being understood 
By the things that are made." 

That the word aidios has the sense of " unseen" 
in also the text from Jude, would perhaps be out of 
sight were we obliged to consider the text by itself; 
and yet its language is really suggestive of that very 
sense. But let the text be taken in connection 
with the words of Paul above quoted, as also with 
those of Peter in a text thought to be parallel with 
this from Jude, and the sense of the word in ques- 
tion must be clearly seen to be " unseen/' and 
nothing less. The angels or messengers mentioned 
being enchained in or under " darkness," their 
chains, whatever their nature, must, of course, be 
"unseen chains ; '' and in 2 Peter ii. 4, the angels 
or messengers mentioned are represented as being 
bound with " chains of darkness " ; and would not 
such chains be necessarily " unseen " ? 

For some remarks on " the judgment v in cer- 
tain texts, see Chapters xv., xvi., xvii. For some- 
what concerning evil angels, see Chapter xxiii. 

The risings from the dead mentioned in the 
Scriptures, were all of them to a state of mortality 
excepting that of Christ alone. Thus, 

The brother of Martha and Mary was by our 
Lord truly raised from the dead into this mortal 
state again, with doubtless the same liability to die 
as formerly. The like may be said of the widow's 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 33 

son at Nain ; of Tabitha, whom Peter raised at 
Joppa ; and of several others. Of this character 
also, most probably, in the opinions of " the peo- 
ple/' and of Herod likewise, was the supposed 
resurrection of the Baptist in the person of Christ. 
But as regards Christ himself, we are scripturally 
assured that He, " being raised from the dead, 
[properly, " having been raised,"] dieth no more ; 
death hath no more dominion over Him." That is 
to say, He is undying and immortal. (Rom. vi. 9. 
See also Acts xiii. 80-37.) 

It has been denied that the body of Christ was 
really devoid of life when and while entombed. 
Also, 

It has been denied that our Lord actually arose 
in his earthly body. 

As to the first of these denials, it is indeed true 
that Jesus declared with express reference to his 
own life, " No man taketh it from Me " ; yet it is 
not less true that He continued the sentence with 
" but Hay it down of Myself" And he adds, " I 
have power to lay it down, and I have power to 
take it [up] again." What life was it which He 
had power to lay down, and which he actually did 
lay down, if it was not the life of his physical 
organization ? 

In regard to the second denial, I observe that 
that life which he had power to lay down as above 
stated, was clearly the very life which He had 
power also to take up again. And did He not 
exercise this power in the latter case as well as in 
the former? Listen to Him once more: "Herein 
doth my Father love me, because I lay down my 
life that I might take it again" 1 If, now, he did not 
take it up a second time, as he said he had power 
to do, the express object of His laying it down 

4 l John x. 15, 18. 



34 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

in preference to having it forced from Him, was 
evidently not accomplished. I affirm, then, that, 
according to the Scriptures, 

Jesus Christ truly laid down, or relinquished, the 
life of His earthly body, and as truly took up 
again, or resumed, the life of that same body. 
Not, however, that He had not celestial life also. 
See chap. xxxv. 

The Greek noun aTtocQp]=aparc7ie 7 usually ren- 
dered " first-fruits/ 7 may be properly so rendered 
when used in relation to sacrifices; yet when so 
used, the word is more commonly put in the plural 
number, ajparchai. In the New Testament, how- 
ever, it is always singular, as aparche, and has the 
simple sense of sample or specimen. Thus the text 
which speaks of Christ as having " risen from the 
dead, and become the first-fruits of those that 
slept," is rightly, " Christ has been raised from 
among the dead, a sample of those having slept." 
1 Cor. xv. 20. 

In accordance with the foregoing remarks is the 
following definition : 

The resurrection of a deceased person from the 
dead, whether, as in the case of Jesus, to an im- 
mortal state, or, as in all other cases, to mere 
mortal life, is, specifically, his being put in posses- 
sion of an organization differing in such manner 
from the organizations of others who have died, 
as that his presence is naturally perceptible by 
means of the physical senses. This state of things 
has existed in a few instances, and has been 
brought about by the riser's being invested or 
(, in the case of Jesus,) s^erinvested with an 
earthly body, — always the one previously inhabit- 
ed. The subject having thus emerged — , so to 
speak, — from the state of invisibility common to 
those who have died, is therefore very naturally 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 35 

represented as having come out or arisen from 
among the dead. 

N. B. — In the original of the phrase " from the 
dead/ 7 when such phrase is not connected with 
a verb of motion, the preposition ek sometimes 
seems to mark a selection from among either the 
physically or the morally dead having relation to 
excellence, and so to import either " of " or 
" among." Thus Col. i. 18 ; and Rom. vi. 13, may 
import "the first-born [or i Chief One'] of the 
dead ; " and " those who are alive among the 
dead." 



CHAPTER IV. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS — CONTINUED. 

The bodily organization or organism proper to 
the future life, the Apostle Paul denominates u a 
spiritual body/' in contradistinction from the or- 
ganism proper to the present life, which the Com- 
mon Version makes him call " a natural body." 

We are told in Genesis, that Adam, being formed 
" of the dust of the ground," and having received 
from his Maker " the breath of life," " became a 
living [or animate] soul," which, in that place, is 
the same as to say a living creature or animal, 
since the description there given has manifest 
reference to man's physical structure. Referring 
to that account, the apostle tells us that Adam 
" was made a living soul," but that Christ has be- 
come "a quickening spirit." He uses the text 
from Genesis to illustrate, in part, the fact which 
himself sets forth, that there are two kinds of 
human bodies, the one kind proper to this mode 
of being, the other, to the hereafter life. 

" So .... is the resurrection of the dead. • • • . . It is sown a 
natural [or animal] body ; it is raised a spiritual body. There 
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is 
written, The first man Adam was made a living soul ; the last 

Adam was made a quickening spirit The first man is [or 

was] of the earth, earthy ; the second man is the Lord from 
heaven. . . . And as we have borne the image of the earthy, 
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." 1 Cor. xv. 
42-49. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 37 

In the above-quoted passage, the adjectives ren- 
dered "natural" and " spiritual/ 7 are derived, re- 
spectively, from the words rendered " soul v and 
* spirit " — psucJiikos, from psuche in the sense of 
living creature or animal, and jpneumatikos, from 
pneuma in the sense of spirit or spiritual being. 
Christ, the heavenly or celestial man, being styled 
a quickening, enlivening, or vivifying spirit, it is 
entirely proper that the resurrectional body should 
be styled a spiritual or celestial one, that is, such 
a body as He has — for are we not to bear his 
image ? In like manner, seeing that the first man 
was constituted an animal being by receiving such 
a body as animals have, it is also entirely proper 
that the earthly body should be styled an animal 
one — for do we not bear the image of Adam ? It 
is easy to see that if " spiritual 77 is a good render- 
ing in the one case, " natural 77 is not a good render- 
ing in the other ; for the terms used by the apostle 
are by him placed in contrast; and surely a spiritual 
body is not necessarily an ^mnatural one. 

Prom the foregoing considerations result the fol- 
lowing definitions : 

The natural or animal body mentioned by the 
apostle, is styled thus — not with reference to its 
constituent elements, but — from the circumstance 
of its being the kind of body seen in nature, or, 
in other words, such a body as animals have. 

The spiritual or celestial body which the apostle 
mentions, is so styled — not to indicate that it is 
composed of spirit, but — from its being such a 
kind of body as spirits celestial have, especially 
such a one as He has who is denominated u a quick- 
ening spirit." 

The verb 'QcooTtoieco = zoopoieo, from the verb poieo, 
to make, and either zoon, a living creature, or zoos, 
alive, is usually rendered " quicken ; " as in the 
4* 



38 THE ANA3TASIS OF THE DEAD. 

text, " For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and 
quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth 
whom he will." 1 The primary idea expressed by 
this word seems clearly to.be — not the giving of 
life to inanimate, unorganized objects, but — either 
the arousing of the life-principle into action, as in 
cases of suspended animation, — or the develop- 
ment of a higher from a lower grade of life, as 
in the production of worms from the ^oosperms 
or life-germs in the eggs of insects. 

Note. Paul applies this word to the springing of 
a plant from a seed : " That which thou so west is 
not quickened except it die." 2 

When applied to the hereafter state, the word 
rendered " quicken " seems to have reference to 
the celestial organism. As, in the beginning, " the 
Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, 
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; " 
that is, gave man an earthly body and inspired, 
that body with earthly life ; — so, also, " the Father 
raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them ; that is, 
He gives them celestial bodies, and enlivens or 
vivifies the same with celestial life. 

In the passive form, the word zoopoieo, usually 
rendered " quicken," is, in one text, rendered 
according to its etymology, " made alive ; " " As 
in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
alive." (1 Cor. xv. 52.) 

As used in a religious sense, and applied to per- 
sons in this mode of being, the quickening process 
intended by the verb in mention seems clearly to 
be the imparting of spiritual or religious life — . 
concerning which life, see chapters vi. xiii. 

The common rendering of various Greek terms 
now about to be given, with their proper sense in 
the New Testament, is as follows : 

i John v. 21. 2 1 Cor. xv, 36. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 39 

Phthartos, " corruptible ; " liable to physical 
corruption or decay. Rom. i, 23 ; 1 Cor. ix. 25 ; 
xv. 53, 54 ; 1 Peter i. 23, &c. 

Thnetos, mostly " mortal ; " liable to physical 
death. Rom. vi. 12 ; viii. 11 ; 2 Cor. iv. 11. 

Phthora and Diaphthora, mostly " corruption ; " 
the state or condition of being corrupted, either 
physically or morally. But in those three texts 
where direct reference is had to the attributes of 
the animal body, as contrasted with those of the 
spiritual, phthora plainly imports — not "corrup- 
tion," but — " corruptibility ;' 7 the quality of being 
liable to physical decay. Rom. viii. 21 ; 1 Cor. xv. 
42, 50. 

To Thneton. (1.) " Mortality ;" (literally, "the 
mortal ;") the attribute or state of liability to phy- 
sical death. 2 Cor. v. 4. (2.) " Mortal." 1 Cor. 
xv. 53, 54. See last chapter of this work. 

Aphthartos. (1.) " Incorruptible ; " not liable 
to physical decay. Rom. i. 23 ; 1 Cor. ix. 25 ; xv. 
52 ; 1 Peter i. 4, 23. (2.) " Immortal ;" not liable 
to physical death. 1 Tim. i. 17. 

(Athanatos. " Immortal." This word not used in the 
New Testament. Aphthartos supposed to be sometimes used 
instead, or once, at least, as above, where Athanatos is said to 
occur in some copies.) 

Aphtharsia. This word occurs seven or more 
times in the New Testament, and is four times 
rendered " incorruption ; " the condition of not 
being physically corrupted; and twice rendered 
"immortality;" the attribute or the state of non- 
liability to physical death. 1 Cor. xv. 42, 50, 53, 
54 ; 2 Tim. i. 10 ; Rom. ii. 7. ^ 

The first style of rendering in the texts just 
referred to is clearly deficient ; the last is almost 
certainly incorrect as to one of the instances. 
Thus, 



40 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

When aphtharsia is used in its primary or literal 
sense, it indicates —-not merely the condition natur- 
ally signified by the term " incorruption," but — 
the condition or quality properly signified by u in- 
corruptibility ; " the attribute or the state of non- 
liability to physical corruption or decay. In the 
text, " This corruptible must put on incorruption, 
(aphtharsia,) and this mortal must put on immor- 
tality (athanasia,) it is scarcely possible to avoid see- 
ing that incorruption bears not the same relation to 
corruptible, that immortality does to mortal. The 
proper rendering of aphtharsia, here, is manifestly 
" incorruptibility ;" as, "This corruptible must put 
on incorruptibility." And perhaps this is true in 
one of the texts where it is rendered " immortal- 
ity : " " And hath brought life and aphtharsia to 
light." (2 Tim. i. 10.) 

In the other text where the word in mention is 
rendered " immortality," it is well-nigh certain that 
the Greek term is used metaphorically, denoting 
the state or condition of being free from corrup- 
tion in a moral sense. We are told that God will 
render eternal or spiritual life to those who pro- 
perly t{ seek for glory, honor, and aphtharsia." 
(Rom. ii. 7.) " Incorruptness," or freedom from 
moral defilement, is almost certainly the idea here, 
in which case the passage is a commentary upon 
the text, " Blessed [or rather " happy "] are the 
pure in heart." (Matt. v. 8.) Aphtharsia, in this 
secondary sense, is synonymous with aphthoria; 
and this is at least closely allied to adiaphthoria, 
the word rendered " uncorruptness " in Titus ii. 7. 
(Note. Aphthoria is said to occur here in some 
MSS.) 

In Ephesians, last verse, aphtharsia is rendered 
" sincerity." The Received Text of the Greek has 
it also in Titus ii. 7 — rendered in the same man- 
ner. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 41 

Athanasia. This word in the New Testament 
is properly rendered " immortality " ; the attribute 
or the state of non-liability to physical death. 
1 Cor. xv. 53, 54 ; 1 Tim. vi. 16. 

It is proper to observe, here, that, in their appli- 
cation to man in the hereafter life, both aphtharsia 
and athanasia have reference solely to bodily 
organization. In other words, that of which 
incorruptibility and immortality are affirmed, is — 
not the spirit, but — the spiritual body. That the 
spirit or soul of man is, or is to be, either incor- 
ruptible, or immortal, the Scripture writers no 
where either assert or deny. 

Akatalutos. This word is once used in the 
New Testament, and is applied to the life of Christ 
in his risen state. It is commonly rendered " end- 
less " : " After the power of an endless life." 
Heb. vii. 16. The word is literally " indis- 
soluble ", — from a, not, and kataluo, to dissolve. 
And the noun zoe, here rendered " life," seems, in 
this place, to have the sense of a mode or 
manner of existence, and so to relate to our 
Saviour's celestial organism, or u glorious body" 
as being incapable of dissolution. Note. Paul, in 
one place, speaks of the earthly body as being a 
" tabernacle," or temporary fabric, liable to be — 
as* he expresses it — " dissolved." (2 Cor. v. 1.) 
But the spiritual organism, being incorruptible and 
immortal, can have no such liability. It is " indis- 
soluble." 

The insurrectional body being incorruptible, 
must exist not merely in a state or condition of 
incorruption, but must of course possess also the 
attribute of incorruptibility. It therefore is free 
not only from disease, but from any tendency in that 
direction. No functional derangement can ever 
occur ; no abnormal nor morbid condition ever be 



42 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

present ; no part of the organism ever take on any 
other than a healthful action ; — and a recuperative 
power must inhere therein fully equal to all the 
waste and wear incident to spirit life and activity. 
Hence, whatever may have been our hygienic con- 
dition in the present life, it must be entirely cer- 
tain that in the hereafter life we shall come to be 
in the possession of perfect and uninterrupted 
bodily health. 

But incorruptibility, though much, is by no 
means all that the Scriptures teach in regard to 
the perfection of the celestial organism. The 
spiritual body is perpetually undying, each subject 
of the resurrection being as He is who, " having 
been raised, .... dieth no more." Nor is this all. 
Being possessed of the attribute of immortality, 
the spiritual body must necessarily be immortal ; — 
must be free not merely from death, but — , under 
God, — from all liability to such an event ; — and 
its recuperative powers must be proof in perfection 
not only against what we might call natural decay, 
but also against all properly supposable violence. 
To beings thus organized, the words of the 
infallible Teacher apply with their entire force, — 
dependence upon God always recognized, — " Nei- 
ther can they die any more," l 

With an eye to the author's particular views, it- 
may now be objected that though the foregoing 
description is perhaps true, prospectively, it can 
not be true of any earth-born beings as yet, nor, 
indeed, as yet, of any created being whatever ; for 
that, according to an express declaration of the 
apostle, God " only hath immortality." It is hence 
argued that, at present, the Divine Being is the 
only immortal being in the entire universe. 

1 Luke xx. 36. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 43 

To such an objection, as founded on this text, I 
object in turn, proposing however, to keep within 
the limits of the human race. 

1. To understand Paul as here teaching that no 
other being than God is immortal, is clearly to 
make him contradict himself; for he certainly 
asserts, as a perfectly reliable fact, that " Jesus 
Christ, of the seed [or posterity] of David, was 
raised from the dead ;" as also, that He, " being 
raised from the dead, [rightly, " having been 
raised/'] dieth no more ; death hath no more 
dominion over Him. 7 ' 1 What less is here affirmed 
than that " the man Christ Jesus" is not only 
undying, but is also immortal ? 

2. In the immediate context of the text in hand, 
it is just as much affirmed that God is the only 
ruler in the universe possessed of way power, as it 
is that He only is immortal : " Who is the blessed 
and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of 
lords ; who only hath immortality," &c. 2 

A potentate is a powerful king or ruler. But it 
certainly can not have been Paul's meaning here, 
that those kings of whom God is the King, have no 
power or potency whatever; nor can he have 
intended to affirm that some of them may not have 
even great power compared with some others. 
And, to me, the sentiment of the apostle is, that 
God's power is one-like or unique. Note. It 
appears that the English word " only " was 
originally onely, which is to say one-like ; and that, 
when used adverbially, it was a simple adverb of 
manner , belonging to a large class of words ending 
in ly ; as wisely, briefly, truly. 

The uniqueness or oneliness of God's potency 
or power, seems to consist, to a great extent, in 

1 2 Tim. ii. 8; Rom. vi. 9. 2 1 Tim. vi. 15, 16. 



44 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

this : His power is underived from any other being 
or beings; while that of all other beings is derived 
from Him as the originative Source of power. The 
apostle elsewhere says, and with express reference 
to governmental power, " There is no power but 
of God ; the powers that are are ordained of God." 
So when Jesus claimed plenary power for the 
accomplishment of His work, he said, " All power 
is given to me," which is manifestly acknowledging 
that even His power was not from Himself. 1 . ,' ; ; ; 

As with God's potency, so with his immortal- 
ness, its uniqueness or oneliness consists in at least 
the fact that His immortality is underived. All 
other immortals are so by His power, while His 
immortality is from Himself. Of Jesus even, it is 
affirmed that "God raised him from the dead"; 
and not merely this, but also in regard to his con- 
tinued existence in the heavenly state, it is declared 
expressly, " He liveth by the power of God." 2 

In what other respects, or whether in any other, 
the immortality of the Uncreated One is specifical- 
ly unique, or differs from that of any created 
being, is a subject which I shall nGt now discuss. 
I will however suggest that it almost certainly 
differs also from ours in not having reference to 
bodily organization. 

In the passage which speaks of God's immor- 
tality, the word u only " is first an adjective, then 
an adverb. The same is true of the Greek word 
monoSj there rendered " only." Probably this 
word was once a fair rendering of monos in that 
text ; but now, since its " only " sense, as an 
adjective, or as an adverb, is an exclusive and non- 
comparative one, the substitution of an other 
word or words seems to have become not " only " 
proper, but actually necessary. 

1 Rom. xiii. 1 ; Matt- xxviii. 18. 2 Acts xiii. 30 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 4. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 45 

I translate the passage thus : 

" The blessed and unique Potentate, the King of kings, and 
Lord of lords ; the One having immortality uniquely, dwelling 
in light inaccessible, " &c. 

In a certain Scripture wherein is professedly 
given an express revealment of the fact of the 
ultimate cessation of human mortality. 

The verb to he changed (, Greek allassomai, from 
allasso, to change, or to exchange,) has, in two 
texts, a special sense. The change is thus announced 
and described, according to the Common Version : 

" Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood can not 
inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth corruption inherit 
incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery : We shall not 
all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall 
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall 
be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, 
and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this 
corruptible shall have put on/' &c. 1 Cor. xv. 50-54. 

From this passage, taken in connection with 
others, it appears to be a Scripture doctrine that at 
11 the end w of Christ's reign, all who shall be then 
alive on the earth, will, in an instant of time, be- 
come incorruptible and immortal without dying,* 
that is, in the proper sense of that term, which 
supposes the corporeal system to have either suf- 
fered violence, or to have been diseased, or to be 
worn out. And this leads to an other remark, 
which may, perhaps, as well be introduced here as 
elsewhere, namely, that 

If it could be proved — ■ but how can it be? — 
that as the spiritual body succeeds the animal one, 
so a more-than spiritual body will succeed the 
spiritual, and that be succeeded by one of a higher 
and more advanced grade, and so on, even above 

* See last chapter of this work. 
5 



46 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

and beyond the over-extra-ultra-hyper-super-preter" 
transcendental spiritual; such proving would by no 
means invalidate the Scripture doctrine of im- 
mortality, that is, of non-liability to death. The 
actual occurrence of the series of changes sup- 
posed, would not necessarily involve the presence 
of the wearing-out process, nor of destructive 
violence, nor of deadly disease. 

The following definitions are designed to be illus- 
trative of the text, " The Father raises the dead, 
and quickens them : " 

The resurrection of the dead into the after-death 
life, — which is to say their rising and their being 
raised into that life, — is, specifically, their being 
invested with bodies proper to that mode of life, 
the new embodiment arises, by the appointment of 
God, from the unfoldment of a spiritual germ — , 
so to speak, — infixed in the constitution of man's 
nature. 

The quickening of the physically dead, as also 
of those having undergone a change equivalent 
to physical death, seems to be the imparting of 
spiritual or celestial life to the super-earthly 
organization. 

Note. Prom the words of the Saviour relative to 
the Father's raising and quickening the dead, it 
seems unquestionable that the quickening process, 
as applicable to the hereafter life, always accom- 
panies (or follows) the raising of a human being 
into that life ; and — no doubt — the same or a 
similar process will accompany (or follow) the 
change which the Scriptures reveal as being to take 
place in " the end " of Christ's reign on the earth. 
But the Scriptures, in speaking of our transition 
to the hereafter life, do not always mention our 
being quickened. That seems to be considered as 
necessarily and unmistakeably implied. 



CHAPTER V. 

SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS — CONTINUED. 

From various considerations I induce the con- 
clusion that the resurrection, in the Scriptural or 
true Christian sense, — or rather that actuality of 
which rising is a figure, — is an indispensable, in- 
variable preliminary to the after-death life. Thus, 
from what was said to Moses at the burning bush, 
Jesus claims to prove, scripturally, that " the dead 
are raised." But he proves their resurrection only 
by proving that the so-called dead are really u liv- 
ing ; " and having done this, he offers no further 
evidence. (See Luke xx. 37, 38, and the parallel 
passages.) 

In PauPs first letter to the church at Corinth, 
the apostle, arguing against some in that church 
who said that " there is no resurrection of the 
dead," specifies certain consequences which would 
result from the fact — , if fact it were, — " that the 
dead rise not ;" and among the consequences stated 
by him is the following : " Then those also who 
are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." It seems 
scarcely possible to avoid seeing that this text 
teaches, by implication, that the resurrection, or an 
equivalent process, is actually indispensable to 
future existence. The little word " also," as em- 
ployed in this text, is clearly a term of great and 
grave import, it having reference to the hypotheti- 



48 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

cal fact implied in the sequence, " your faith is 
vain ; ye are yet in your sins." 

The passage containing the text alluded to, when 
more properly translated as to the tenses, reads 
thus : 

" If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain ; you are 
yet in your sins. Then those also have perished who have 
fallen asleep in Christ." 1 Cor. xv. 16-18. 

In the commencement of the chapter, the apostle 
announces that he is declaring the gospel which 
they had received, and by which, says he, " ye are 
saved) .... unless ye have believed in vain." And 
his afterward telling them that upon the hypothe- 
sis assumed their faith was vain, &c, is, to me, as 
if he had said, " You have believed in Christ, but 
then He died long ago ; and if there is no resurrec- 
tion, he perished at death. And if he has perished, 
there is no Saviour ; and if there is no Saviour, 
you, of course, are not saved, and your faith is 
utterly valueless.'' 

If in the passage in hand, the apostle did not 
intend to give the idea, u If the dead are not raised 
then Christ has perished, why did he add, " then 
those also have perished who have fallen asleep in 
Christ? 7 ' And what is all this but arguing plainly 
and unequivocally that if there is no resurrection 
there is no after-death life ? 

If it shall be asked why the future life is thus as 
it were dependent on the resurrection, the writer 
of this will only say, Because our Father thought 
proper to have it so. Nor should the reader be 
surprised at this answer, since it is substantially 
the only one which an enlightened philosophy can 
give in regard to the reason of some of the com- 
monest facts in nature. Matthew xi. 26, has an ex- 
tensive appliancy. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 49 

The word rendered " gospel " is euaggelion, 
which has been Latinized in evangelium, from 
which comes evangel, and hence evangelism, evan- 
gelist, &c. The primary import of the original 
word is good news, which fact is very generally 
recognized ; but the usual application of the word 
in the New Testament is as generally overlooked. 
The term is sometimes a name for Christianity con- 
sidered as a system of truth ; (see chap. ix. of 
this work ;) but it is mostly applied to the History 
of Christ. (See chap, xxxi.) The narrow accep- 
tation and use of it, in modern times, as a synonym 
for this or that " evangelical system," — so called, 
— is without scriptural authority or precedent, 
excepting so far as the one or the other or both 
may be deduced from what is said of some in the 
early times, by whose efforts — , as we learn from 
the apostle, — the Galatian Christians were, for 
awhile, carried away " to an other gospel ; which 
— , says he, — " is not an other ; but " — , he con- 
tinues, — " there are some who trouble you, and 
would pervert the gospel of Christ." 1 

The phrase " in Christ " has several significa- 
tions. Thus, being in Christ sometimes imports 
being a Christian, that is, a believer in Christ .; as 
in the remark of Paul concerning himself, " I knew 
a man in Christ about fourteen years ago," &c. ; 
also his remark concerning certain brethren, — 
" who were in Christ before me." It also signifies 
" through the agency of Christ ; " as where the 
apostle announces that it is God's will " to gather 
together in one all things in Christ." 2 In this 
work, however, we are not particularly interested 
as to the sense of this phrase excepting only in 

1 Gal. i. 6, 7. 2 2 Cor. xii. 2: Rom. xvi. 7; Eph. i. 10. 

5* 



50 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

texts having direct reference to the future life, — 
of which texts the following are the principal, if 
not the only ones : 

11 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
alive," (or " quickened.") 1 Cor. xv. 22. 

" And the dead in Christ shall rise first." (Literally, " shall 
be raised first," or, " shall have been raised first.") 1 Thess. 
iv. 16. 

I am convinced that the two texts just quoted 
belong to the same class, in that the phrase " in 
Christ/ 7 in the latter text, qualifies the raising 
mentioned, instead of the implied dying ; and hence 
that, in English, the proper arrangement of the 
words in the latter text is, " The dead shall have 
been raised in Christ first f or " The dead shall 
previously been raised in Christ." 

In the former of the texts in hand, (and why 
not also in the latter ?) the true import of the 
phrase " in Christ 7? must be intimately related to 
that of the phrase "in Adam; 77 and in each phrase 
the preposition " in 77 evidently points out a rela- 
tion not ususally indicated by that word. May it 
not be expressive of some appointed connection, 
like as in the text where we read that God said to 
Abraham, " In Isaac shall thy seed [or descendants] 
be called? 77 Or, at the least, may it not be that 
the Greek phrases " en to Adam" " en to Christo" 
= in Adam, in Christ, are elleptical, — and that some 
word expressive of connection is to be understood 
in each, making the sense to be " in connection with 
Adam," " in connection with Christ, 7 ' as in the fol- 
lowing renderings : 

" For even as all die in connection with Adam, so, also, shall 
all be quickened in connection with Christ." 

" But the dead shall previously have been raised in connec- 
tion with Christ.'' 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 51 

It was said to our common progenitor, " Dust 
thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.' 7 This 
was a law of his nature, applicable of course, to 
his descendants also ; and hence the Scripture 
remark, " For we must needs die." Thus are we 
connected with Adam in dying; and as to connec- 
tion with Christ in being quickened, was He not 
" quickened in spirit" on being " put to death in 
flesh ? " And has He not been " raised from among 
the dead, a specimen of those having slept ?' ;1 
Note. " Put to death in flesh, yet quickened in 
spirit," and " raised from among/ 7 &c, are literal 
renderings of the texts here alluded to. 

From various passages of Scripture, I gather 
that the insurrectional organism, in a rudimental 
state, and more or less developed according to our 
measure of spirituality, — or, at any rate, that the 
germ of that organism, non-germinant, may be, in 
some, — is actually contained within our animal 
bodies. Thus, 

The Apostle Paul speaks of " the outward man" 
and "the inward," saying, " Though our outward 
man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by 
day." And I consider it certain that, in this text, 

" the inward man " is analogous to the outward 

not the spirit, but its inner envelopment, or the 
spiritual organism, even as the outward man is the 
spirit's outer envelopment, or the animal organism. 
For in the same connection, speaking of the earthly 
body, and representing it as a tabernacle, or tem- 
porary dwelling, he declares, substantially, " We 
know that if this house were dissolved, we have 
an other." And this averment is preceded by the 
remark, " We look not at the things which are 
seen, but at the things which are not seen." 2 

i Gen. iii. 19; 2 Sam. xiv. 14; 1 Pet. iii. 18; 1 Cor. xv. 20. 
2 2 Cor. iv. 16; v. 1. 



52 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

In an other place lie represents the celestial 
body as in the particular condition of being about 
to be born of the earthly body : 

" We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth 

in pain And not only they, but ourselves also, who have 

the first-fruits of the spirit, .... groan within ourselves, wait- 
ing for the adoption, to wit, the redemption [or ' the release '] 
of our body." Rom. viii. 22, 23. 

We see from the above, or may see, that as the 
body of the fetus is inclosed within the body of the 
prospective mother, and in due time enters upon a 
separate existence, in connection with its inhabit- 
ing spirit and all its appurtenances, — so, according 
to the Scriptures, the spiritual body, with its spirit- 
ual inhabitant, in the case of true Christians at 
least, is, at death, disengaged from the animal 
organism, and enters upon a separate and new 
mode of being. The apostle's metaphor may, in 
these days, be deemed indelicate ; — what seems 
proper enough in one age, and among a certain 
people, may seem quite the reverse in an other 
age, and among an other people; — yet, whether 
so deemed, or not, and whether it so is, or not, 
HSg^its lesson of truth is so glaringly apparent as 
to be positively unmistakable ; <*g$H and his employ- 
ing such an illustration should probably be regard- 
ed by us as a most fortunate circumstance, if not 
a providential one. 

In that passage wherein the apostle tells of his 
earnest and painful desire for the immortal life, he 
more than intimates that we were made with ex- 
press reference to such a life. Says he, " For we 
who are in this tabernacle do groan, being burden- 
ed ; not for that we would be unclothed, but 
clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed 
up by life." And his next words are, " Now He 
who hath wrought us for the self-same thing, is 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 53 

God.'' 1 "Wrought." That is, made, or fitted. 
Is it not then a Scripture doctrine that man is con- 
stitutionally adapted to a state of immortality ? 

The existence, in at least some persons, of a 
spiritual organization within the earthly organism, 
is pretty clearly indicated by the existence of 
a spiritual sight and hearing, as manifested in the 
case of Stephen, of John the Revelator, of Elisha's 
servant, of the Apostle Peter, and others? 2 As 
physical sight and hearing are effected through 
the organs of the animal body, so spiritual sight 
and hearing must — , it would seem, — be effected 
through the eyes and ears — , so to speak, — of 
the spiritual body. 

What sane person supposes that even the most 
intelligent of mere animals — , as dogs, horses, ele- 
phants, — long for, or expect, or even cogitate 
upon, an after-death state of being ! And what 
reason have we to suppose that man (, whom some 
one has described as an animal of the genus homo^) 
would ever have thought of an other life, had not 
its germ within him generated the idea ? 

The future-life thought is manifestly the offspring 
— not of intellect, but — of sentiment. And in 
the estimation of the writer of this, a principal 
reason why some persons, near the close of this 
earthly life, have so clearly realized, and so con- 
fidently anticipated, an other and higher life, has 
been — not so much their intellectual activity, as — 
the progressed unfoldment within them of the 
germ of such higher life. If the reader " will 
receive it/' — to adopt the Saviour's language, — 
some such persons have seemed (, to the discern- 
ing eye,) as if to an extent transfigured. 

1 2 Cor. v. 2-5. 

2 Acts Yii. 55, 56; Rev. i. 10-17; 2 Kings vi. 17; Acts x. 9-15; 2 
Cor. xii. 1-4. 



CHAPTER VI. 

SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS — CONTINUED. 

The Greek noun awjv = aion is variously render 
ed in the Common Version, but mostly " world " 
and " ever/' as in the phrases, " this world/' " the 
end of the world/' " for ever/' " for ever and 
ever/' &c. When aion is rendered " ever/' but 
especially when the phrase " for ever and ever " 
is used, it is commonly supposed to signify dura- 
tion without end. Whether it has or has not this 
sense in some texts, is a question the discussion of 
which, to any great extent, can hardly be consider- 
ed as belonging to this work. In certain texts it 
plainly imports age; as for example, in that one 
where the object of God in certain acts mentioned 
is set forth to be, " that in the ages [, or in the 
aions*~\ to come He might show the exceeding 

riches of his grace through Christ Jesus ;" 

■ also, where we read concerning Christ, that 
"now once in the end of the aions* hath he 
appeared to put away sin." 1 In the former of 
these texts aion in the plural is rightly, and of 
course properly, rendered " ages" ; in the latter it 
is wrongly, and therefore improperly, rendered 
" world." Query. If in this last text aion has 
really a mundane sense, why not render it in the 
plural — " worlds " ? 

* Aion pluralized Englishly. 1 Eph. ii. 7; Heb. ix. 26. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 55 

In the Epistle to the Hebrews, aion is repeatedly 
used in connection with the priestly office of 
Christ, and is rendered " ever " and " evermore." 
At first view, the word seems, in those texts, to 
have an endless sense ; yet it is certain that the 
extent of duration there indicated by axon, though 
far-reaching, is far from endless, it being limited 
by the limited duration of Christ's priestship. 

In the above-mentioned Epistle, Jesus is said to 
have been " made a high-priest for ever after the 
order of Melchisedec " ; — the text from the 
Psalms, " Thou art a priest " &c, alluded to in the 
above text, is quoted a number of times ; — it is 
declared that Christ " is consecrated for ever- 
more ;" — and that He, " because he continueth 
ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood," or, accord- 
ing to the marginal rendering, "hath a priesthood 
which passeth not from one to another." x In all 
these texts, so far as found in the New Testament^ 
aion occurs in a phrase which, as there used, im- 
ports for or throughout , or during' the age — 
eh tov cuojva = eis ton aiona. (Aion in an oblique 
case, the article in the same case, and the preposi- 
tion eis.) Note. In several texts occurring else- 
where, this phrase seems to have no particular 
reference to time. See Chap. xix. 

The Greek proposition eis, when it has relation 
to time, may be thus defined : When it relates to 
any particular point of time, it has the sense of 
"to" or "until" that time; where it relates to 
some space of time, it imports " for," or " through- 
out," or " during " the whole period. When not 
relating to time, it signifies " to," " into," 
" in," &c. 

We see, then, that Christ is " consecrated " or 

1 Heb. vi. 20; y. 6; vii. 17, 21, 24, 28; Ps. ex. 4. 



56 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

" made a high-priest for the age " ; and that He, 
"because He continues" a priest "throughout the 
age, has an unpassing priesthood." What age is 
here meant ? What, other than the Christian age, 
— so to speak, — comprising the whole period of 
Christ's reign ? Being possessed of " an indis- 
soluble life", as we have seen in a previous 
chapter, he is to hold the above-mentioned office 
throughout the entire term of time during which 
that office is to continue. But at " the end, when 
he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God," 
will not his mediatorship cease, and of course also 
his priestship ? 

Aion — , as has been before intimated, — is not 
always expressive of duration at all. Certainly in 
one text, probably in more, it literally denotes 
a Spiritual Being, real or fictitious, which fact in 
the one text alluded to, is evinced by the use of 
the words " Prince " and " Spirit " directly after 
Aion, as if in explanation : 

" And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses 
and sins ; wherein, in time past, ye walked, according to the 
Aion of this world, according to the Prince of the power of 
the air, the Spirit that now worketh in the children of dis- 
obedience.'' Eph. ii. 1, 2. 

In this text the word aion is' translated " course " 
" According to the course of this world." Had 
the word been left untranslated, or been merely 
Latinized into JEon, the apostle's idea would have 
been left scarcely any more obscure than it is by 
this translation. " Genius " would probably come 
as near the sense of the original as any word that 
can be used in English, " According to the genius 
of this world." For it is known that 

Some of the ancients recognized the existence 
of iEoNS or Eons, a species of beings similar in 
some respects to the Genii of the Arabian Tales# 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 57 

To these most likely tbe apostle here alludes; but 
his alluding thus to the Eons does not go to show 
that he believed in the existence of just such 
beings, any more than the declaration, " Ye can 
not serve God and Mammon," shows that the 
Saviour recognized the heathen god of Riches as a 
veritable entity. 

In an other place, where we are instructed that 
angels are " ministering [or officially-serving] 
spirits," even as our Lord Jesus Christ is else- 
where declared to be u a quickening [or vivifying] 
Spirit ; " — and where also we learn that in official 
dignity He is preeminently superior to angelic 
spirits ; — the subject is introduced by the declara- 
tion that God hath " spoken to us by His Son, 
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by 
whom also he made the Aions.' 7 1 Jesus being 
here set forth as the universal Heir, in a Regal or 
kingly sense, in which sense intelligent, and even 
spiritual beings, can be inherited by Him, as sub- 
jects, 1 consider it at least probable that the com- 
mon rendering, " by whom 7 ', should be changed to 
" for whom : " For whom also He made [or " con- 
stituted ;? ] the aions.' 7 In this text, aion in the 
plural is commonly rendered " worlds ; 7 ' yet I am 
quite of the opinion that it imports neither worlds 
nor ages, but bona fide spiritual beings ; and that 
it should be understood to mean angels. 

In at least one passage, aion signifies life, in the 
sense of a mode or manner of existence. Thus 
our Lord, when asked what matrimonial arrange- 
ment in a certain presented case would be proper 
" in the resurrection/ 7 replied that " the children 
of this axon marry/ 7 but that those obtaining " that 
aion and the resurrection " do not. 2 Here, " this 

1 Heb. i. 1, 2. «■ Luke xx. 24, 25. 

6 



58 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

aion " and " that aioii " are manifestly this life, or 
our present mode of being, and that life, or the 
hereafter mode of being. 

I offer the following as a correct definition of 
aion as used in the New Testament : 

Aion. 1. An age, an indefinite period ; a long 
or seemingly long time ; hence the idea of lasting- 
ness, and perhaps endlessness. 2. The duration of 
the Jewish state ; the duration of the reign of 
Christ. 3. Spirit; a spiritual being, an angel. 
4. A mode or manner of existence ; this life ; the 
after-death life. 

The adjective au»vio$ = amnios, from the noun 
aion, is, in the Common Version, most usually 
rendered either " eternal " or " everlasting." Its 
true signification corresponds to either the first, 
second, or third sense of its root; as given above ; 
or sometimes, perhaps to its fourth sense ; — that 
is, it has reference either to duration in general ; 
or to the duration, or to the termination, of 
the Jewish, or the Christian dispensation — so 
called — ; or to spirituality in a religious sense ; or 
perhaps sometimes in a celestial sense. 

In the passage which speaks of " the everlasting 
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ/ 7 
which kingdom — we are elsewhere informed — he 
will in "the end" deliver up to God from whom 
he received it, it may be doubtful whether aionios 
is to be understood in the sense of " age-lasting," 
or of " spiritual," seeing that Christ's kingdom 
possesses both these characteristics in an eminent 
degree. 1 

In that text where the apostle is made to speak 
of " eternal judgment," aionios, rendered "eternal," 

2 Pet. ill; 1 Cor. xv. 24. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 59 

clearly signifies "pertaining to the age 7 ' — an 
idea we have no single word to express ; since 
neither agic or agical, not yet aginal, each of which 
is legitimately formed, has as yet the fortune to be 
admitted into our familia verborum. 

In the parable of the sheep and the goats, — so 
called, — aionios, rendered "everlasting 77 and 
" eternal/' is usually supposed to mean endless. It 
is a fact, however, that the judgment there set forth 
is of a national character ; and as a national award 
can hardly be more than age-lasting, that is, lasting 
for one or more ages. That it is indeed national, 
is evinced by the circumstance that the separation 
there described is of " nations. 77 1 (See Chap, xix 
of this work.) 

In a certain place Paul affirms thus : " The things 
which are seen are temporal, but the things which 
are not seen are eternal. 7 ' 2 The word here rendered 
" temporal' 7 signifies properly temporary, that is, for 
a time only, or for a short time ; and aionios, 
rendered " eternal," being put in contrast with the 
other word, plainly imports lasting or abiding, that 
is, for an indefinite time. The invisible things in 
mention are indeed spiritual, —there can be no 
doubt as to this, — but the particular property 
here meant to be affirmed of them, is their lasting- 
ness. (Note. It is not all invisible things of 
which the apostle is here speaking. See the con- 
text.) 

In a few texts, aionios life may relate to the con- 
stitution of our natures, as beings destined to a 
continuous, lasting, celestial life, beyond this 
transient state. Thus an apostle says, " This is 
the record that God hath given to us eternal life, 
and this life is in His Son. 77 " These things have 

1 Matt. xxv. 32. 2 2 Cor. iv. 18. 



60 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

I written to you who believe on the name of the 
Son of God, that ye may know that ye have 
eternal life. 77 1 Yet, as I view the case, 

In most of those texts of Scripture wherein 
aionios is joined with life, the expression — , in- 
stead of being translated " eternal life," or " ever- 
lasting life, 7 ' — ought to be rendered " spiritual 
life, 7 ' and the word spiritual be understood in a 
religious sense. Such life is the companion of 
Christian faith ; and each is an assistant to the 
other. 

Spiritual or religious life, as possessed in this 
mode of being, and Scripturally denominated 
" aionios life," or simply " life,' 7 is an active state 
of the spiritual faculties and feelings, attended 
with a very great degree of enjoyment. This 
spiritual activity coexists with a strong faith, a 
lively hope, and an expansive charity, indicating 
and promoting a preponderance of the religious 
emotions and moral sentiments over the sensuous 
feelings and animal propensities, and inducing pure 
thoughts, kind words, and just and benevolent 
actions. As was set forth in our last chapter, it 
would seem from the Scriptures, that in such per- 
sons not only has the germ of the spiritual organ- 
ism actually germinated, but also — in such — that 
" the inward man, 7 ' while enveloped in " the out- 
ward," really becomes in a measure unfolded ; for 
that, in such persons, at times, if not habitually, 
one or more of the faculties proper to spirit life 
are truly in exercise, though, of course, in an im- 
perfect manner. " Now we see" says Paul, com- 
paring the present life with the future ; but he im- 
mediately adds, " through a glass, darkly," u Now 
I know" is his affirmation ; but he quickly sub- 
joins, " in part : 77 

il John v. 11, 13. 



SCRIPTUEAL DEFINITIONS. 61 

" Now we see through a glass, darkly ; but then, face to face ; 
now I know in part ; but then shall I know even as also I am 
known." 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 

The opposite of spiritual life, or rather the 
absence of such life, is, in the Scriptures, denomi- 
nated simply " death, 7 ' without any qualifying term 
whatever. This death consists in a dormant state 
of the spiritual or religious faculties and feelings, 
attended, if not with absolute misery, with at least 
a very great lack of enjoyment. This spiritual 
dormancy seems clearly to indicate that in the sub- 
jects of it the germ of the spiritual organism is 
little if any unfolded, and hence that the perceptive 
faculties of " the inward man " are in a quite 
undeveloped state. To such specimens of humanity 
applies the following declaration: 

" The natural* [or animal] man receiveth not the . things of 
the spirit of God ; for they are foolishness to him ; neither can 
he know them because they are Spiritually discerned" 1 Cor. 
ii. 14. (Head the next verse.) 

Persons in the condition above described are 
represented not only as blind, but also as " dead," 
and sometimes also as " dead in sin" ; but it should 
be observed that the deadness and the sinfulness 
are merely accompanying states, and not by any 
means identical. The former is indeed productive 
of the latter, in so far at least as overt acts are 
concerned ; and the latter is clearly promotive of 
the former, even to the bringing of men into a state 
of death repeatedly ; f yet each state is distinct 
from the other. 

Those persons to whom the glorified Saviour 
sent a converted Saul " to open their eyes, to turn 

* For some remarks on the word here rendered " natural," see 
Chap, iv of this work — phrase, "a natural body." 

t See Ezek. xyiii. 21-28 ; xxxiii. 13-16. Also Chap, xx of this 
work. 

6* 



62 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD. 

them from darkness to light," &c, were evidently 
of the description mentioned in the text above 
cited from 1 Cor. ii. It was those who had been 
such, to whom this same apostle afterward wrote, 
" And you hath he quickened who were dead in 
trespasses and sins." * 

There are several Greek words rendered " judg- 
ment," "judge," &c, but they are all of similar 
import. In the phrase, " day of judgment," the 
word for "judgment" is krisiSj signifying; 1, the 
same as does the English word " crisis ; " 2, a 
judicial trial ; 3, a judicial verdict, whether for or 
against the party judged ; &c. See Chap. xvii. In 
the phrase " eternal judgment," the word render- 
ed " judgment " is hrima, having evidently the 
same sense that Tcrisis would there have. 

The word rendered " perdition/' and sometimes 
" destruction," in the Common Version, is apoleia, 
from the verb apolhcmi, to destroy, to lose, to 
perish, &c. The word perdition may have been a 
proper rendering of apoleia, once ; but it is far 
from being so, now. 

Apoleia signifies loss, destruction, or ruin ; more 
commonly, the loss of life, or of something imply- 
ing the loss of life ; as the loss, to a general, of his 
troops, slain ; the loss to any one, of a relative, 
deceased; &c. Sometimes, however, the loss does 
not even imply death ; as the loss of soldiers, made 
prisoners ; the loss of friends, who cease to be 
such. 

The true sense of apoleia, in most texts, is 
equivalent either to "loss," or to destruction." 
Where Jesus is made to say concerning His 
apostles, " none of them is lost but the son of per. 

i Acts xxyL 17, 18 ; Eph. ii. 1. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 63 

dition," the text were much better rendered, " none 
of them is lost but the son of loss" But where 
Paul tells of " the son of perdition" whom the 
Lord was ere long to " destroy with the brightness 
of His coming/' the appropriate rendering is clear- 
ly " the son of perdition." ' In at least one text 
where apoleia is rendered " perdition," the word 
u ruin" might be a good rendering; since, in that 
place, temporal ruin is evidently the catastrophe 
intended : 

14 They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and 
into many foolish and hurtful lusts, [properly, " desires,"] which 
drown men in destruction and perdition. [Or " ruin."] For 
the love of money is the root of all evil : which while some 
coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced them- 
selves through with many sorrows." 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10. 

1 John xvii. 12; 2 Thess. h. 3-8. 



CHAPTER VII. 

SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS — CONCLUDED. 

The word diabolos, usually rendered " devil/' 
signifies, in general, an adversary or enemy with 
evil motives, and, in the Scriptures, is applied to a 
deceiver, a traitor, a persecutor, &c, but never to 
a spiritual being, excepting, possibly, in one in- 
stance, by a figure of speech, where diseases seem 
to be ascribed to "the devil." Those desiring to 
see this subject discussed at length, might do well 
to read Balfour's " Inquiry into the Scriptural Doc- 
trine concerning the Devil and Satan.' 7 

The word rendered " satan " is satanas, which 
imports an adversary whose motives may be either 
bad or good ; while diabolos, as has been said, im- 
ports an adversary with evil motives. Thus Jesus, 
when Peter opposed Him, addressed* him as merely 
a " satan,' ; the motives of Peter being humanly 
good ; but when He spoke of Judas as an opposer, 
he styled him " a devil," since, by whatever ethical 
rule estimated, the motives of Judas were clearly 
bad. 1 

In a few texts, satan seems to import a mere 
physical evil, considered as an adversary to human 
happiness ; as in the case of the woman " bowed 
together ; ' with infirmity, concerning whom, after 

1 Mark viii. 33; John vi. 70, 71. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 65 

He had healed her, the Saviour said that she had 
been bound thus by " satan." (It should be ren- 
dered " a satan," if it is proper to use this word at 
all in English.) A like view is usually taken of 
the " messenger of satan" — literally " angel-satan" 
— complained of by the apostle. 1 In one other 
text also, as has been said, it would seem that dis- 
eases are ascribed to the devil. Thus Peter says 
of Jesus, that He " went about doing good, and 
healing' all that were oppressed of the devil. 7 ' 2 

As the name of God implies good, so the term 
devil implies evil, considered in its character of 
opposition to good. Hence devil, in the Scriptures, 
sometimes imports the abstract principle of oppo- 
sition to good ; as when Paul, addressing an 
opposer who "withstood" him and Barnabas, 
characterized him as a " child of the devil ; " or 
when an other apostle affirms that " ivhosoever com- 
mitteth sin is of the devil ! ;? and that " in this " the 
children of the devil are manifest ! ! ! 3 Sometimes 
also the term devil seems to stand for the persecut- 
ing poiver, whether that power were considered as 
concentrated- in an individual ruler, or whether 
allusion were had to the whole body of persecutors 
taken together; as when Peter, addressing some 
of the early Christians in reference to the " afflic- 
tions " which they, in common with other Chris- 
tians, were constantly liable to from the persecut- 
ing opposers of Christianity, exhorts, " Be sober, 
be vigilant ; because your adversary the devil, as 
a roaring lion, walketh about seeking w T hom he 
may devour : whom resist, steadfast in the faith." 4 

1 Luke xiii. 11-16; 2 Cor. xii. 7, (See remarks of commentators 
on this last text.) 

2 Acts x. 38. 3 Acts xiii. 8-10; John iii. 8-10. 
4 1 Peter v. 8, 9. 



66 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

So in the Revelation, a certain power, under the 
figure of a dragon or serpent, and which is ex- 
pressly said to be " called the devil, and satan," is 
as expressly said to have " persecuted " a certain 
symbolical personage, and sought " to devour her 
child ; " also, as proceeding " to make war with " 
those having "the testimony of Jesus Christ," 
that is, with the Christians. And we learn that 
these did as Peter exhorted to do ; for it is added 
that " they overcame him [the dragon] by the 
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their tes- 
timony/' &c. 1 

Though the term Satan, in most English versions, 
has always — as in this work it now, for once, has 
- — a Capital letter for its Initial, and thus appears 
as a proper noun or name, like Simon or Judas, 
there is eminent authority for saying that " satan," 
or the word so rendered, was not a proper name in 
the language of the Jews, but was a mere appella- 
tive, or common name, like adversary, traitor, &c. 

The word rendered " devil " and " devils ?? when 
persons are said to have them, or to be possessed 
with them, is daimon, (or a kindred term,) which in 
Latin becomes dcemon, and from this comes the 
English word demon. " Demon " is clearly the 
proper rendering of daimon, &c, instead of " devil." 
Demons were thought to be the spirits of departed 
human beings, who were believed to have the 
power of entering into the bodies of the living, 
causing strange and incurable diseases, and various 
morbid affections both of body and mind. Thus 
Josephus describes " demons ; ' as being " the 
spirits of the wicked, that enter into men that are 

1 Revelation xii. 4, 9, 11, 13, 17. 



SCEIPTURUL DEFINITIONS. 67 

alive, and kill them unless they can obtain some 
help against them.' 7 * 

From certain cases in the gospels where the 
attendant symptoms are incidentally given, it would 
seem that the diseases believed to be produced by 
demoniacal agency, were, for the most part, some 
form of insanity, or of " fits." Thus the man who 
— as probably he and others supposed — was pos- 
sessed with a whole legion or regiment of spirits, 
and who is represented as preternaturally strong, 
and entirely uncontrollable, was doubtless furiously 
insane. One who had a dumb devil was probably 
a hypochondriac or melancholy person ; an other, 
having a " dumb and deaf spirit/' 7 was perhaps a 
natural deaf mute ; and both he and the boy who 
is described as " lunatic/ 7 both of whom also, when 
attacked, fell, whether " on the ground,' 7 " into the 
fire," or " into tho> water," (and who indeed may 
have been one and the same individual,) were 
manifestly afflicted with epilepsy or falling-sick- 
ness. 1 And so of the rest. 

It is certain that diabolical possessions, in the 
commonly-understood sense of that expression, 
are not taught in even one text of Scripture 
rightly translated and interpreted ; yet that demon- 
iacal possessions are wholly unscriptural, the writer 
hereof does not feel called on to affirm, nor, in- 
deed, to deny. It does not seem likely, however, 
that diseases were produced in those days by the 
agency of possessing spirits; nor can it be shown 
with certainty that the New Testament writers, as 
also our Saviour, in employing the current phrase- 

* See Jewish War, Book vn. chap. vi. section 3; and the authors 
quoted and referred to by Whittemore on the Reyelation, at xvi. 13. 

i Mark v. 2, 9; Luke xi. 11, 14; Mark ix. 25, 20, 22; Matt. xvii. 
15. 



68 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

ology, intended to vouch for the verity of such 
possessions. But there can be no doubt that pos- 
sessions by demons or human ghosts, and this 
operating as the cause of various diseases, was, in 
the time of Christ, and later, a very generally 
received and highly popular doctrine.^ 

" In one place, " a certain damsel " is spoken of 
as being " possessed of a spirit of divination," 
and as having " brought her masters much gain 
by soothsaying" — in more modern parlance, " by 
fortune-telling. 7 ' But the historian goes on to re- 
late that Paul . . . . said to the spirit, "I command 
thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of 
her ;" and that " he [the spirit] came out that same 
hour ; " also, that, ere long, " her masters saw that 
the hope of their gains was gone," — from which 
it is manifest that she ceased soothsaying from that 
time. 1 Query. What really happened to this 
young woman upon Paul's commanding the divin- 
ing spirit to leave her ? 

The reason why the demons or possessing spirits 
believed in by the Jews, were by them deemed 
and denominated " unclean spirits," was probably 
because they were supposed to hover around 
graves, and other depositories of the dead, contact 
with which rendered any person " unclean " for a 
time. See the law of Moses on this subject, as 
referred to below. 2 In accordance with this idea, 
is the fact that the individual who was reputed to 
have a " legion " of unclean spirits within him, 
is described as having his dwelling among the 
tombs." 3 

The word rendered u angel " is aggelos f (com- 

i Acts xvi. 16-19. See Mark xvi. 17. 

2 Numbers xix. 11-16. 

3 Mark v. 2-9. Compare Luke viiL 26-30. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 69 

nionly written angelos,) which originally signified 
merely a messenger,-*- but which seems to have 
come to be used also in the sense of representative 
or delegate. It is thus the name of an office, irre- 
spective of the nature or standing of the one hold- 
ing it ; and in accordance with this circumstance 
is the fact that the word is applied, in the Scrip- 
tures, not merely to celestial spirits, but also to 
men in the flesh. Thus John, the Baptist, is de- 
clared by the Saviour to have been a " messenger " 
— angelos — of the Lord or Jehovah, sent by Him 
to prepare the Messiah's way before Him. The 
u messengers v also which the Baptist, while in 
prison, " sent " to Christ, are called, in the original, 
the angels of John. 1 And in the Eevelation, which 
book was written to be sent to the seven churches 
in Asia, each of the seven messages contained 
therein is addressed to some individual in the 
church named, such individual being styled " the 
angel' 5 or representative of that particular church: 
" To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write ; " 
and so of the rest. 2 Note. It is a curious fact that 
those messages purport to have been dictated to 
John by the glorified Saviour, seemingly in person ; 
and yet that they are described as being " what 
the Spirit said to the churches. n 

Not only is the New Testament term for angel 
used sometimes in the sense of representative, but 
this usage of the word angelos seems to be a tran- 
script of the usage of the corresponding word in 
the Old Testament. Thus, in several passages, the 
following or a similar train of circumstances is to 
be observed : An angel appears, and personates the 
supreme God, speaking in HIS name without the 
preface used by the prophets, " Thus saith the 

1 Luke vii. 19, 24, 27. 2 Rev. i. n, 20; ii. 1, 11, &c. 

7 



70 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

Lord ;" and in the progress of the account the 
writer attributes the announcement directly to 
God, — or (, as in at least one case,) makes the 
seer of the angel speak of having seen God. It 
is hence apparent that, in the early times, angels 
were regarded as representatives of Jehovah ; and 
that, in at least many instances, where we read 
that in those days God spoke to men thus and so, 
— though, to us, the language may seem to affirm 
that He spoke thus personally, — the Scripture 
writers intended and expected to be understood as 
teaching that He spoke thus through an angel : 

" And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of 
fire out of the midst of a bush ; and he looked, and, behold, 
the bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 
And Moses said, ' I will now turn aside, and see this great 
sight, why the bush is not burned/ And when the Lord saw 
that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst 
of the bush, and said, 'Moses, Moses ! ' And he said, ' Here 
am I.' And He said, ' Draw not nigh hither,' &c. Moreover 
he said, ' I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, and 
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his 
face, for he was afraid to look upon God." Gen. iii. 2-6. 

So in regard to the parents of Samson, we are 
told by the sacred historian, that an " angel of the 
Loed " was seen by them : and that " Manoah knew 
not that he was an angel" but considered him 
only as a " man of God ; ?? also, that when the angel 
ascended into the flame of the sacrifice offered by 
Manoah, "then Manoah knew that he was an angel 
of the Lokd. And Manoah said to his wife " We 
shall surely die because we have seen God." 1 

In later times, (and perhaps also earlier, in some 
instances,) the prophets received divine communi- 
cations without seeing a celestial representative of 
God. Read the case of Samuel, in 1 Sam. third 

1 Judges xiii. 3-23. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 71 

chapter. It therefore is there said, " And the word 
of the Lord was precious in those days ; there was 
no open vision. 77 

Heaven is literally the region or world above. 
The term has a variety of applications, indicating 
the several regions where the birds fly ? the clouds 
float, and the stars are located, — also the imagi- 
nary residence of the heathen deities. In the 
Christian sense, as applied to super-mundane things, 
it is where God's presence is specially manifested ; 
where Jesus Christ has gone ; and where also 
dwell those who, as the apostle tells us, " are heav- 
enly," or are as in Christ. Figuratively, it is 
used instead of the name of God; it denotes also 
the state of Christian believers on earth ; any ex- 
alted condition, &c. 

That the word heaven, in the Christian sense, is 
truly the name of a spiritual place as well as of a 
spiritual state, will hardly be disputed. The cor- 
rectness of the position is evident from a great 
number of considerations, of which the following 
are a sample : 

Verbs of motion, adverbs of place, ,and prepo- 
sitions expressive of local relations, are used in 
speaking of Christ and heaven, just as in speaking 
of Him and some place on the earth. Thus in like 
manner as we read that " he entered into Caper- 
naum/ 5 and, afterward, that he " went .... into 
a city called Ephraim, and there continued with 

his disciples ;' 7 so are we certified that He has 

" gone into heaven ; 77 that he has " entered .... 
into heaven itself, 7 ' not " into the holy places made 
with hands, which are the figures of the true" 
ones ; — and we are informed that a little before 
his departure he " plainly 77 said to his disciples, 
" I go to prepare a place for you. And .... I will 



72 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

come again, and receive you to myself, that where 
I am, there ye may be also." 1 

In regard to the location of heaven, the Scrip- 
tures plainly enough indicate its direction from us, 
but do not give its distance. Heaven, in the 
Scriptures, is every where taken to be overhead, 
or above us, and this at all times, and in different 
countries. 

To our external perceptions, the earth's surface, 
as a whole, is flat — is a plain, diversified with hills 
and valleys, and remaining at rest in the midst of 
the moving universe. So the spiritual heaven, as 
mortals have caught a view of it by spiritual sight, 
appears as a world spread out in like manner above 
us. Witness the case of Stephen, who, being fully 
• spiritualized, — so to speak, — was favored with a 
clear and distinct view of the spiritual heavens 
while looking intently and perseveringiy upward 
into the sensible heaven or sky : 

" He, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly 
into heaven, and saw the glory of God, . . . and said, " Behold 
I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the 
right hand of God." Acts vii. 55, 56. 

But the earth is known to be a sphere, either 
solid or hollow, inhabited on opposite sides. And, 
by parity of reasoning, heaven, being above the 
earth, is also a sphere, encompassing at least earth's 
habitable zones. Certain rather alarming objections 
relating to the doctrine of the locality of heaven, 
are, by this view of the subject, rendered entirely 
harmless. For an example, take the objection 
couchant in the following question : If heaven is 
in an upward direction from us at this moment, 
which way will it be from us twelve hours hence ? 

The Greek word rendered " heaven ?? — ouranos 

1 Peter iii. 22; Hebrew ix. 24; John xiv. 2, 3. 



SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS. 73 

— is often pluralized in the Scriptures, sometimes; 
no doubt, by way of eminence ; as for example? 
when employed instead of the name of God. 
" The kingdom [or reign] of heaven," wherever 
that phrase occurs, is rightly "the kingdom [or 
reign] of the heavens ;" — the commencement of 
the Lord's prayer might be properly rendered, 
u Our Father, the One in the heavens /' — and 
M your Father who is in heaven, 7 ' is more literally, 
" your Father, the One in the heavens." 

Is it a Scripture doctrine that there actually 
exists a plurality of spiritual heavens ? From the 
statement of Paul that he had known a man who, ei- 
ther in the body or out/ 7 was caught up to the third 
heaven /' as likewise from his affirmation that Jesus 
Christ "ascended far above all [the] heavens," the 
inference seems not an unreasonable one, that at 
least this apostle believed in more heavens than 
one. l Observe, also, that Jesus said, " In my 
Father's house are many mansions ;" — moreover, 
that it was " the heavens/ 7 in the plural number, 
which were " opened 7 ' to Stephen's spiritual vis- 
ion ; — and further, that Solomon, in more than 
one instance, makes mention of " the heaven of 
heavens." 2 

In those texts where mention is made of Christ 7 s 
coming, the noun " coming/' as it occurs in the 
Common Version, is from the Greek parousia, 
derived from the verb pareimi, which may signify 
" to come 77 to a place, allusion being had to the 
journey thither ; or " to arrive 7 ' at a place, allud- 
ing merely to the termination of the journey ; or 
" to be present " in a place, with no other allusion 
to journeying than is contained in the implication 

1 2 Cor. xii. 2,4; Eph. iv. 10. 

2 John xiv. 2; Acts v. 56; 1 Kings viii. 27: 2 Chron ii. 6; vi. 18. 
(Compare Ezek. i. 1; Matt. iii. 16.) 



74 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

of a previous absence. According to circum- 
stances, then, the noun parousia may import sim- 
ply " presence/' or it may mean u arrival," or it 
may signify " coming." In 1 Cor. xv. 23, and in 
1 Thes, iv. 15, I translate this word " arrival." 

To me, the Scriptures teach two distinct comings 
of Christ over and above his introduction into this 
mortal state. See chap. xvi. of this work. When 
applied to the latter of these, I translate joarousia 
u arrival." See last chapter of this work. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

MORTALISATION IN ADAM. 

The doctrine prevails, rather generally, that 
Adam, the first of the human race, was created 
immortal, and that he lost his immortality by 
sinning ; also, that not merely himself, but all 
his posterity, to the latest generation, became 
mortalized — , so to speak, — by his sin. I object 
to this dogma as being grossly unreasonable as 
well as wholly unsupported by the Scriptures. 

Suppose that previous to his transgression, 
while yet he was as truly immortal as he had ever 
been, our venerable common Progenitor had by 
some means happened to fall into the " river v of 
Eden, in flood-time. Such an event is surely sup- 
posable. Let it be supposed also, that he sank 
beneath the surface, and remained submerged for 
a day or two, and that then, by the subsidence of 
the freshet, he was left upon dry land. Is it to 
be believed that — no miracle occurring — he 
would, at the end of that time, have found himself 
undrowned ? 

If the summit of a perpendicular cliff several 
hundred feet in height had been attained by him, 
and while standing on its brink his footing had 
given way, and no angelic hand had borne him up, 
and so he had been precipitated upon the granite 



76 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD. 

pavement at its base, would not the fall and 
collision have killed him ? 

Suppose, however, that, from some cause, the 
descension and collision above described, had 
altogether failed of injuring him ; yet that' a 
ponderous rock, the first movement of which had 
occasioned his fall, should have tumbled down im- 
mediately after him, and struck directly upon his 
person ; — no spiritual intervention being present ; 
— could it have happened otherwise than that he 
would have been crushed to death? 

The foregoing, and many similar questions, 
admit, respectively, of but one rational answer ; 
and by it is shown the absurdity of the supposition 
that the bodily structure of Adam was ever pro- 
perly immortal, any more than are those of his 
descendants. 

It is true that death was the penalty affixed to 
the first prohibitory law given by the Creator to 
man ; and it is also true that Adam and Eve 
violated that law, and of course incurred the 
penalty. Yet it is further true, that, by the 
positive enactment of the Lawgiver, the penalty, 
whatever might have been its precise nature, was 
to be certainly inflicted in the very day of trans- 
gression. After forbidding " the man " to eat the 
fruit of a certain tree, —-so runs the allegory,— 
the Lord God said expressly, " In the day that 
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." 1 It is 
hence entirely obvious, that 

If He who can not lie declared the truth, : 
Our first Sire died the day that he transgressed. 
But no one questions God's veracity, 
Nor doubts that as to bodily demise, 
Adam did not die that day, but survived 
Day after day, on, on, through many years. 

1 Gen. ii. 17. 



MORTALIZATION IN ADAM. 77 

It follows hence that when Jehovah said 
Adam should die the day he ate the fruit, 
Corporeal dying could not have been meant, 
But dying in some secondary sense, — 
Perhaps the sense intended in the text, 
"The wages [ — daily pay * — ] of sin is death." 

We read, indeed, that " by one man sin entered 
into the world, and death by sin ; and so death 
passed upon all men for that all have sinned." But 
this text obviously yields no support to the notion 
that Adam and all his posterity, to the latest 
generation^ became mortal by his first trans- 
gression. The context shows conclusively, that 
death is here used in a metaphorical or secondary 
sense, it being actually contrasted with " justifica- 
tion of life.' 7 Besides, the text does by no means 
affirm that death, in any sense, is the doom of all 
merely because one man sinned ; but it expressly 
says, "and so death passed upon all men for that 
all have sinned." It occurs in the same connection 
with the text which assures us that " the wages of 
sin is death " ; and it perfectly coincides with the 
one which says, " The soul that sinneth it shall 
die." 1 

The passages wherein it is said that " since by 
man came death, by man came also the resurrection 
of the dead," will be commented upon at some 
length near the close of this work. (See Chap. 
xxxv.) In this place, I remark merely that the first 
man who was known to have died, revealed death 
as the destiny of the living, in like manner as the 

* Dr. A. Clarke, in his Commentary, lets us know that the word 
rendered "wages" in Rom. vi. 23, originally "signified the 
daily pay of a Roman soldier. " In the marginal rendering of Luke 
iii. 14, Common Version, the word is translated "allowance," 
(importing what we now call " rations, ") which, if not always 
dealt out daily, was issued from time to time, and at not long in- 
tervals. 

1 Rom. v. 12, 18; vi. 23 ; Ezek. xviii. 4, 20. 



78 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

first who was known to have arisen to an other 
life, revealed the resurrection as the destiny of the 
dead. To adopt the phraseology of the text in 
hand, death "came"— -or, more properly, "was 
shown " — by the one ; and the resurrection " came" 
— or " has been shown " — by the other. 1 

We are informed by the sacred historian that 
" God created man in his own image " ; and we 
have been informed by sage divines that Adam 
lost that image, and that hence all his posterity 
come into the world without it. Granting the 
truth of this latter information, it might be very 
plausibly argued that what Adam lost was his 
spiritual nature, rendering him altogether animalic, 
hence in all respects mortal ; and therefore that we 
are in that condition. The facts of the case, how- 
ever, are, that, in the first place, the Scriptures no 
where teach that Adam by his transgression lost 
the Divine image ; and, secondly, it is stated in 
the New Testament, as a constant and universal 
fact, that " men are made after the simili- 
tude of God." 2 

1 1 Cor. xv. 21. 3 Gen. i. 27; v. i; James iii. 9. 



CHAPTER IX. 



ANNIHILATION. 



It is held by persons connected with various 
Christian sects, that the final destiny of a con- 
siderable number of the human race is to be utter 
annihilation. The doctrine is held in a variety of 
forms, seemingly according to the constitutional or 
the educational bias of the person holding it. 
Thus, 

Most annihilationists — , if I mistake not, — 
reject the doctrine of endless torments with 
horror; but at least a few profess to think that to 
be struck out of existence would be a greater evil 
than to suffer endlessly. Some evidently suppose 
an exercise of special power requisite to reduce 
the sinner to a state of nothingness ; while per- 
haps the greater number totally reject the popular 
dogma of the immortality of the soul, and so con- 
tend that the sinful have but to be let alone in 
order to drop at once into absolute non-existence. 

Some seem to anticipate for the wicked merely 
a sudden extinction of being; wjiile others appear 
to expect for them a lingering death in intense 
torments. Some have held that the existence of 
the wicked will continue until they are sentenced 
to death, judicially ; others that such persons cease 
to exist, on the death of the body. According to 



80 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

some, the wicked will be raised, and then adjudged 
to utter death ; while others contend that, for this 
class, there is no resurrection at all. 

And so forth, &c. 

I propose to present two principal arguments 
bearing directly against this doctrine, in all and 
each of its various forms and modifications ; also, 
to offer some remarks upon certain texts and 
classes of texts which are, or may be, adduced in 
its support. 

1. A firm belief in the reality of the catastrophe 
contemplated by the doctrine of the utter annihi- 
lation of the wicked, is not calculated to give com- 
fort to a bereaved mourner, who is exercised by 
parental affection, and views the victim of said 
catastrophe to be a beloved child. 

The point of this is, that "the gospel v is direct- 
ly calculated to administer comfort to " all who 
mourn," and, of course to all bereaved parents. 
This we may soon see, by comparing and consider- 
ing a passage from " the evangelical prophet/' and 
an account given in the New Testament : 

Isa.lxi.l--3. "The Spirit Luke iv. 17-21. "And 

of the Lord God is upon me ; there was delivered to him the 

because the Lord hath anoint- book of the prophet Esaias. 

ed me to preach good tidings And when he had opened the 

to the meek ; he hath sent me book, he found the place 

to bind up the broken-heart- where it was written, ' The 

ed, to proclaim the ac- Spirit of the Lord is upon 

ceptable year of the Lord, and me, because He hath anointed 

the day of vengeance of our me to preach the gospel to the 

God; to comfort all who mourn; poor, he hath sent me to heal 

to appoint to those wl*o mourn the broken-hearted, to 

in Zion, to give them beauty preach the acceptable year of 

for ashes, the oil of joy for the Lord.' And he closed the 

mourning, the garment of book, and sat down . . . 

praise for the spirit of heavi- . . . And he began to say to 

ness," &c. them, " This day is this Scrip- 
ture fulfilled/' 



ANNIHILATION. 81 

Observe, here, that for " good tidings " in the 
prophet, we have " gospel v in the evangelist ; that 
Jesus applied the passage to himself, as being The 
Gospel Preacher ; and that though Luke does not 
proceed with his quotation far enough to speak of 
" the day of vengeance " or retribution, — which 
doubtless Jesus read, — he also, by the same 
means, does not transcribe that significant ex- 
pression, — which also doubtless Jesus read, as 
being a part of his commission, — "to comfort all 
who mourn" 

The term Christianity primarily imports the 
religion of a person called " Christ." But Jesus 
Christ did not himself give that appellation to the 
system of truths by him presented. He called it 
by a name which we translate " gospel," and which 
all agree signifies good news. This is a name of 
great significance, and is evidently indicative of 
the quality of Christian truths, since it was by 
means of those truths, announced either personally 
or by proxy, that the great Preacher was to 
officiate as a universal Comforter. I argue, then, 
that 

Any system of doctrine which presents, as a 
final result, that which will not comfort at least all 
" those who mourn in Zion," — alias Christian 
mourners, — must needs differ essentially from the 
pure gospel of Christ. 

And I also freely confess that 

If the doctrine of the annihilation of the wicked 
has any gospel in it for the affectionate father or 
mother mourning the death of a wayward, impeni- 
tent, skeptical child, I have altogether misread 
the parental heart. 

To say that annihilation is better than endless 
suffering, is saying nothing to the purpose, any 
more than to say, as some have said, that endless 



82 THE . ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

suffering is better than annihilation. The one may- 
be less bad than the other ; yet, strictly speaking, 
neither of them is better. To a good man, there 
is really no good news in the one norm the other ; 
and the fact that this may be preferred to that, or 
that to this, in a choice of evils, is by no means to 
be taken as proof that either belongs to the simple 
good-news system presented by Jesus, the Christ. 

Note. Whatever of applicancy and force there 
may be in the foregoing argument as an objection 
to the doctrine of annihilation, it is obvious that 
were it directed against the doctrine of endless 
punishment, so very generally received among 
Christians, it would apply every way as well, and 
certainly with no less cogency. 

2. The Apostle Paul teaches expressly that 
death itself — , that is to say, human death, — shall, 
at the last, " be destroyed." This, to my mind, 
negatives the doctrine in hand ; since, according to 
this doctrine, human death is to have an endless 
reign, — so to speak, — and millions of victims, 
are to be endlessly subject to its power. 

The passage containing the text alluded to, reads 
thus : 

" Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the 
kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put 
down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must 
reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last 
enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all 
things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put 
under him, it is manifest that He is excepted who did put all 
things under him. And when all things shall be subdued to 
him, then shall the Son also himself be subject to Him who 
put all things under him, that God may be all in all." 1 Cor. 
xv. 24-28. 

Observe, here, that the apostle is treating of the 
reign of Christ in his kingdom ; and that, accord- 
ing to the apostle, this reign of Christ is to con- 



ANNIHILATION. 83 

tinue until all enemies and all things are put under 
His feet. 

" The expression, " put under his feet." is mani- 
festly not to be taken in a literal sense ; and it is 
an exceedingly valuable fact that, both when 
applied to " all enemies," and, to " all things," the 
phrase in mention is followed by its appropriate 
synonym. Thus " put all enemies under his feet," 
is followed by " the last enemy that shall be de- 
stroyed;" and "put all things under his feet," is 
followed by " and when all things shall be sub- 
dued " or subjected. * . 

We perceive, then, that to put the enemies under 
his feet is to destroy them. And it must be con- 
fessed that the meaning which annihilationists are 
wont to affix to the term destroy, is undeniably its 
meaning in this text. For though to destroy, may 
mean, in many instances, to punish by depriving 
the culprit of mere bodily life ; and though "death" 
is here personified, and thus spoken of as though a 
living being ; the figure manifestly recognizes this 
common-sense idea, that when the thing personified 
is deprived of its life, it is also deprived of existence 
in every proper sense of the word. We have it, 
then, that Christ is to annihilate all enemies, and 
that death is destined to be the last. 

But who or what are the rest of the enemies? 
Are they those individuals of mankind who are 
inimical to Christ, their lawful Sovereign ? It 
would seem not; for "the last enemy " is not of 
the human race, nor indeed of any race, but is 
simply the condition, or the process, denominated 
" death ;" and, by parity of reasoning, the other 
enemies are not human beings, but are those con- 
ditions, practices, principles, &c, which are inimi- 
cal to the prosperity of Christ's kingdom. One of 
these enemies (, over and above death, and which, 



84 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

of course, is to be destroyed before death will be 
destroyed,) is clearly " the carnal mind," which 
this same apostle elsewhere tells us, is " enmity 
against God : " adding, " for it is not subject to the 
law of God, neither indeed can be." 1 

The apostle assures us here, however, that " all 
things " are to be " subdued " or subjected to 
Christ, and, of course, to God ; and that " then 
shall the Son also himself be subject." The word 
" also," as here used, clearly evinces, to me, that 
to be " subdued," is, properly, to be subjected ; 
that the expression, " all things," imports neither 
more nor less than all human beings; that all 
human beings will at length become " subject," 
even as " also " Christ will " then "be; and that 
no human being is destined to be " destroyed," in 
the annihilational sense of the term, any more than 
is even the Saviour himself. 

Suppose, however, that inimical human beings 
are to be annihilated, not subjected. Jesus then 
commences and carries on among them the work 
of annihilation, adding death to death, until all 
human enemies are put out of existence. The 
"enmity" that was in them, alias "the carnal 
mind," and indeed every thing in any manner or 
degree sinful, is, of course, put out of existence 
with them. But the destruction of the last inimical 
human being, and with him the last vestige of 
human enmity, depravity, and sin, would by no 
means be — scripturally- — the destruction of " the 
last enemyP " The last enemy .... is death." 

When all enemies shall be destroyed excepting 
death, where will death be, and upon whom can it 
exert its inimical power? Obviously in and upon 
that class of human beings, and that class alone, 

1 Eom. viii. 7. 



ANNIHILATION. 85 

the last of whom the Saviour will have just put to 
death. The immortalized saints will be no more 
under the power of death than is our Lord him- 
self. It is declared concerning Christ, that " death 
hath no more dominion over him.' 7 And it is just 

as certainly declared, " We know that we 

shall be like Him." * 

The question is now submitted to the intelligent 
and candid reader, whether, when one portion of 
mankind are immortalized, and the other annihilat- 
ed, these latter will not have to be restored to 
life, in order for death to be destroyed. At this 
crisis, must not the language of that Scripture be 
necessarily and literally fulfilled, wherein an apostle 
declares, in just so many words, " As in Adam all 
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive ? " 2 

If the reader will consult certain passages to be 
presently referred to, he will learn that Christ is to 
destroy il the devil," as also his " works." 3 Accord- 
ing to these Scriptures, destructiveness, as mani- 
fested by our Lord, is under the guidance of 
benevolence — an unmistakable indication that He 
will never annihilate any of " the offspring of 
God." 

There are certain passages of Scripture in which 
destruction is undeniably set forth as the doom of 
some; but on an examination of those Scriptures, 
it will be found that far the greater number of 
them relate to the destinies of mankind in an 
associated capacity, of which the following text 
is an example : " And when he had destroyed 
seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided 
their land to them by lot." 4 So in the Psalms : 

1 Romans vi. 9: 1 John iii. 2. 2 1 Cor. xv. 22. 

3 Hebrew ii. 14; 1 John iii. 8. 4 Acts xiii. 19. 

*8 



86 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

" Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast 
destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their 
name for ever and ever.' 7 Here, " the heathen " 
are obviously the heathen nations ; and besides, 
the next verse says, " Thou hast destroyed cities ; 
their memorial is perished with them." 1 A nation 
may be destroyed, and no more exist as such; a 
city may be demolished, and, of course, utterly 
depopulated ; the very name of a nation or city 
may be lost from human language ; yea, even the 
fact that either of them ever existed, may come to 
be entirely unknown to any person on earth ; — - and 
yet the people of such nation or city may be far 
from being annihilated. 

Moses assures the Israelites, that in case they 
should transgress to a certain extent they would 
certainly be " destroyed." It is afterward record- 
ed of one branch of the nation, that " the Lord 
was gracious to them, and would not de- 
stroy them, neither cast He them from his presence 
as yet; 99 that is, as we soon find it explained, they 
were not yet " carried away out of their own 
land." In reference to the other branch of the 
nation, the Lord is represented as afterward say- 
ing, "I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as 
I have removed Israel;" and it is subsequently 
declared that He actually did " cast them out from 
His presence," — which transaction, however, is 
explained thus : " So Judah was carried away out 
of their land." 2 

The Apostle Paul, in speaking of those who 
" troubled " the early Christians by persecuting 
them, declared that they should " be punished with 
everlasting destruction from the presence of the 

1 Psalms ix. 5, 6. 

2 Deut. xxviii. 48, 51; 2 Kings xiiL 23; xvii. 23; xxiii. 27; xxiv 
20: xxv. 21. 



ANNIHILATION. 87 

Lord." a This language — or most of it — is mani- 
festly borrowed from the Old Testament ; and, 
creeds out of sight, would it not seem likely to 
have here the same style of meaning it has when 
used there ? The sense, then, is, that that perse- 
cuting nation, the Jews, were to be destroyed in a 
governmental capacity, and totally ejected from 
the land of Judea. (See Jer. xxiii. 39, 40.) 

In not a great number of instances, destruction 
is set forth as the destiny of individuals. It then 
denotes either the loss of bodily life, as it does in 
most of the cases, — or some kind of temporal 
ruin, as it may in a few instances, — or else it is 
synonymous with death in a figurative sense. 

Paul, in one place, speaks of certain persons 
" whose end is destruction." 2 This destruction 
was of course personal with each individual ; but 
it was certainly of a temporal nature ; and 
from the language of the context, there can be 
little doubt that it was a part of the national 
punishment about to be inflicted upon the Jews. 
The apostle begins the chapter with cautioning the 
brethren against Judaizing teachers ; — so to call 
them ; — and he finally characterizes them as " the 
enemies of the cross of Christ." That is, though 
claiming to hold the Christian doctrine, they wish- 
ed to be thought Jews, being quite unwilling to 
acknowledge themselves followers of a man who 
had been publicly executed as a malefactor, — and 
this, too, by the most disgraceful of all deaths, that 
of the cross. They therefore were not at all like- 
ly to heed the Saviour's admonition in Luke xxi. 
20, 21, and elsewhere ; and so were altogether 
likely to share the common fate of the Jews. Be- 
sides, too, the apostle represents them as being 
extremely gluttonous, if not drunken persons, 

1 1 Thess. ii. 15; 2 Thess. I 9. 2 Phill. iii. 18, 19. 



88 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

applying this significant language to them, " Whose 
god is their stomach." * Such could hardly escape 
the impending national destruction. " Take heed 
to yourselves/' said the Saviour to his disciples, 
" lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with 
surfeiting/' &c, " and so that day come upon you 
unawares." 1 

Of similar import to the foregoing from Paul, is 
the declaration of Peter in reference to certain 
sensual and greatly licentious persons, that they 
" shall utterly perish in their own corruption." I 
see no reason for supposing that more is here 
meant than the disease and premature death oc 
casioned by gluttony, drunkenness, &c. See the" 
context, — as also a passage in Jude referred to 
below. 2 

Those texts in the Revelation where mention is 
made of " the second death," seem to teach the 
infliction of pain, rather than a cessation of life. 
Besides, as we have already seen, Christ is to 
destroy death. The Revelator also speaks of a 
time when, as he declares, " There shall be no 
more death." 3 At that time, even the second 
death can have no existence. 

Annihilationists are wont to lay great stress 
upon certain texts in which everlasting or eternal 
life is set forth as resulting from faith. If such 
life were the immortal life, it would be an apparent- 
ly fair conclusion that, on the death of the body, 
non-believers would drop into non-existence. But 
everlasting or eternal life is certainly not the im- 
mortal life ; for we certainly may possess such life 
while in a state of mortality. Says Jesus, " He 
who heareth my word, and believeth on Him who 

* Not the common rendering, 

1 Luke xxi. 34. 2 2 Pet. ii. 12; Jude S-13. 

3 Kev. xxi. 4, 8; xiv. 9-11. 



ANNIHILATION. 89 

sent me, hath everlasting life." " This is life 
eternal that they might know Thee, the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." 1 

It would seem that all human beings possess a 
spiritual as well as an animal nature ; and that a 
state of spiritual advancement, or, as some would 
express it, of spiritual development, is w T hat is 
meant in Scripture by having everlasting or eternal 
life ; also, that to be in a state of spiritual inactivity 
or inertness, is what is meant by being in a state of 
death. (See Chap, vi.) This death, however, is 
no where, in the Scriptures, denominated " eternal" 
or " everlasting." 

As regards the position that no one will have 
immortal life who does not first obtain eternal life, 
it may be observed that were this proved, it would 
by no means follow, Scripturally, that any are 
to be annihilated ; for 

In the same chapter where we read that " by 
one man sin entered into the world, and death by 
sin, and so death passed upon all men for that all 
have sinned," we truly may also read, that " where 
sin abounded, grace did much more abound ; that 
as sin hath reigned to death, even so might grace 
reign, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by 
Jesus Christ our Lord." 2 As the one, even so the 
other. As extensive as is the reign of sin, even 
so extensive shall be the reign of grace. Eternal 
life, then, is ultimately to be the inheritance of all. 

1 John v. 24; xvii. 3. s Horn, v. 20, 21. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE DEATH OF THE SOUL. 

It has been taught, as a Christian doctrine, that 
the human soul or spirit is specifically mortal, so 
that, on the death of the body, all which constitutes 
man what he is, dies ; (a doctrine none the less 
true, nor any more so, because thus much of it was 
believed, of old, by the Sadducees ;) and that man- 
kind, thus dying, body and spirit, will remain thus 
dead until some period yet future ; when all will be 
made alive simultaneously. 

The doctrine of the literal death of the human 
spirit, though attended, as a compensatory con- 
sideration, with that of the spirit's revivification, 
I can not receive, because of the following, among 
other reasons : 

1. Viewed in the light of the above-stated 
doctrine, life after death is the same as a new 
creation — - is equivalent to the making of new 
beings. And since this is not at all calculated to 
gratify one's own inherent love of individual, per- 
sonal life, the prospect of a future life, con- 
templated thus, loses nearly all its interest. To 
me, therefore, this doctrine seems very little like 
gospel. 

The giving of existence to that which has no 
existence, is clearly an act of creation ; and this 



THE DEATH OF THE SOUL. 91 

would he equally true, whether the recipient of 
existence had, or had not, existed previously. 
Thus, unless it is indeed true that the mortal body 
once inhabited by Adam, is now in existence, as a 
corpse, or, at least, as a mummy, the creating 
of that body at the first, was no more cer- 
tainly a creative act, than would be the giving 
of existence to that same body now. But it is a 
contradiction in terms, this speaking of Adam's 
body, supposedly now created, as being the same 
one he had in the days of his flesh, and which, 
doubtless, was dissolved thousands of years ago. 
In order for the body of a man to live a second 
time and he the same body it was at first, it must 
constantly have retained its previous existence. 

So, also, with the spirit. If the spirit dies, and 
will afterward live, and be the same spirit it was, 
its existence, as a spirit, must remain perfect and 
entire in the interim. But I have never seen or 
heard an argument from either Scripture or nature 
demonstrating that the spirit of man, if literally 
dead, would necessarily continue to exist for even 
a moment. 

To assert that the soul or spirit of man is 
material, which is to say that it is composed of 
matter ; and to assert also that matter, in all cir- 
cumstances, is positively indestructible j and to 
argue thence that the soul or spirit must always 
exist ; would be an argument of no force what- 
ever, even though the premises were indubitably 
proved. In precisely the same way, and with quite 
as much propriety, might be argued the endless 
existence of every thing material, — which would 
be glaringly absurd. For though it were de- 
monstrable, and even self-evident, that not a 
particle of matter ever was, or ever will be 
annihilated, this could not neutralize, much less 



92 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

annihilate the fact, that material structures are 
undergoing annihilation every day. 

2. In the second place, as I understand the 
Scriptures, the opposite of this doctrine is taught 
therein in the clearest manner. To me, the 
Saviour, in His conversation with the Sadducee 
Doctors, " as touching the dead,' 7 &c, lays down 
the position, as being both an Old and a New-Testa- 
ment doctrine, that there are no human dead in any 
other than a merely physical sense, for that all the 
so-called dead are spiritually " living. 79 

The Sadducees, as we have before seen, held 
that the souls or spirits of men die with their 
bodies. Our Lord, having replied to their ques- 
tion, introduces a Scriptural incident as a ground 
of argument ; and it is apparent that His after- 
remarks are intended as a refutation of their dis- 
tinguishing opinions, rather than as an answer to 
any thing they are reported to have then said : 

" As touching the dead, that they rise : [or " are raised : " ] 
have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God 
spoke to him, saying, ' I am the God of Abraham, and the God 
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ? ' He is not the God of the 
dead, but of the living : ye therefore do greatly err." Mark 
xii. 26, 27. (See also the parallel passages in Matthew and 
Luke.) 

When Jehovah, through an angel, said to Moses, 
a I am the G-od of Abraham/' &c, it was after those 
patriarchs had died, in the ordinary sense of speak- 
ing. And yet He did not say, " I was their God/' 
but " I am] 1 in the then present tense. Now the 
term " God v denotes an object of worship ; and it 
as truly, and as necessarily, implies worshipper, as 
master implies servant. The fact, then, that 
God said to Moses, " I am/' &c, using the present 
tense, (or rather that which, in Hebrew, is fully 
equivalent to it — the ellipsis of the verb, as, " I 



THE DEATH OF THE SOUL. 93 

the God," &c.,) shows incontestibly that, according 
to the Scriptures, Abraham and the other patriarchs 
named in the account, though at that time dead, as 
to their bodies, were nevertheless truly living. 
Not merely existing, but living, or alive. And if 
they, why not others? why not all? Indeed, as 
we learn indisputably from Luke, the Saviour him- 
self actually applied His argument to the whole 
race, declaring, " For He is not a God of the dead, 
but of the living; for all live to Him. 7 ' 1 

I claim, then, that the doctrine in question is 
disproved by Scriptural facts, as presented and 
illustrated by Him who " brought life and immor- 
tality to light." 

I know of but few Scripture texts which can be 
brought in proof of this doctrine with any show 
of applicancy. It is indeed said, " Man dieth ; " 
and as the word man may include in its meaning 
both body and soul, this text may be thought to 
teach the doctrine of total death. But it is proper 
to observe that the text reads, " man dieth, and 
wasteth away." Does Job here mean that the soul 
or spirit dies with the body ? If so, he must also 
mean that, after its death, the soul or spirit wastes 
away as does the body, and so becomes dissolved. 

The latter half of the verse claims a moment's 
attention, as being explanatory of the former half, 
by the parallelism common in Hebrew poetry. The 
whole reads thus : 

" But man dieth and wasteth away ; 

Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he ? " 

To die, in the first line, is the same as giving up 
the ghost in the second ; and as that which yields 

Luke xx. 38. 



94 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

up the ghost, is certainly the body, therefore that 
which dies, is the body. The question in the 
second line, " where is he ? " is obviously not a 
call for information, but is equivalent to saying, he 
is not ; and it corresponds to the phrase in the first 
line, " wasteth away." And as it is evidently the 
body that wastes away, so it is the body, or, in 
other words, man, as a visible, tangible entity, con- 
cerning which or whom it is asked, " where is 
he ? " the implied answer to which is manifestly 
this, " He is gone — he is wasted away — he is 
not." Job continues: 

* As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth, and 
drieth up : So man lieth down, and riseth not : till the heavens 
be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their 
sleep." Job xiv. 7-12. 

If in the above passage Job has reference to a 
mode of being other than the present, then he cer- 
tainly declares, in opposition to the Christian Scrip- 
tures, that there is not, and will not be, any resur- 
rection at all. To me, how T ever, he merely declares, 
in opposition to the doctrine of transmigration, 
that when a man is once dead he lives no more 
here — that death is a perpetual sleep so far as liv- 
ing again in this state of mortality is concerned. 
Says he, " There is hope of a tree, if it ^>e cut 

down, that it will sprout again, But man 

dieth, and wasteth away, .... man lieth down, 
and riseth not." 

There is an other text demanding our particular 
consideration here — the text which instructs us 
that, at least in some instances, men's " thoughts 
perish " at death. Let it be assumed — as it has 
been — that, in this text, the word " thoughts " 
signifies the faculty of thinking, and the doctrine 



THE DEATH OF THE SOUL. 95 

under examination will seem to be pretty plainly 
proved. But it may not be unprofitable to con- 
sider, that 

By a man's thoughts are more usually meant his 
ideas, that is, the things which are thought by 
him ; as his desires, designs, expectations, and the 
like. In one text, we read, " Commit thy works to 
the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established." 
Thy designs or calculations. It is said of some, 
" Their inward thought is, that their houses shall 
continue for ever." Such a thought or expectation 
must most certainly have perished ; yet that in the 
thinkers of the thought the power of thinking has 
perished, does by no means necessarily follow. 1 

In like manner, a man may think — , may desire, 
design, calculate, plan, expect, — to leave, when he 
dies, a vast amount of money to his children ; but 
he may die moneyless, or childless, or both ; and in 
such case, such thought will perish, of course ; 
yea, this must happen in the very day that he dies, 
if not sooner ; — yet it is not therefore certain that 
the man's thinking faculty will perish, or be even 
suspended. 

The passage embracing the text in question, 
reads thus: 

" Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in 
whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth 
to his earth ; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is 
he who hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in 
the Lord*his God." Psalms cxlvi. 3—5. 

The sense of the above passage I take to be, 
substantially, as follows : Trust in God, rather than 
in man, for even princes die, and when dead can 
do nothing for you. Death brings to nought their 
designs and plans. It is an appropriate exhorta- 

1 Prov. xvi. 3; Psalms xlix. 11. 



96 THE ANASTASIS OF THE BEAD. 

tion, Put not your trust in any son of roan, for he 
will die, and his plans perish ; but Trust not in man, 
for he will die, and his thinking power perish, is say- 
ing nothing suitable to the case over and above the 
mention of man's mortality. Does any one imagine 
that the Psalmist thought we might advantage- 
ously depend on kings after their decease, provid- 
ed they but retained the power of thinking? 

N. B. Some of the objections presented in this 
chapter, are effective against some form of the 
doctrine examined in the previous chapter. Also, 
some of the Scriptures which will be considered 
in the second chapter from this, are likely to be 
occasionally cited in support of the doctrine ex- 
amined in the present chapter. 

It is freely admitted that the Scriptures no where 
say that the soul or spirit of man is immortal ; and 
it is a fact, also, that it is not said in that Book 
that the soul or spirit is incorruptible. But as no 
one would infer from the latter fact that the spirit 
is subject to putrefaction, — so I, for one, do not 
infer from the former fact that the spirit literally 
dies. The truth is, that, scripturally, man's immor- 
tality is predicated of his spiritual body, and his 
mortality, of his animal body. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE SLEEP OP THE SOUL. 

It is held by some, that, on the death of the 
body, the soul or spirit sinks into a state of sleep 
— that the dead of the present and all past gene- 
rations are reposing in blank and dreamless -uncon- 
sciousness, to be aroused at some future time, 
along with those of all future generations, at which 
period the entire race of man, from Adam to the 
last of his posterity, shall recommence conscious 
existence at the same moment. 

In disproof of this doctrine, I propose to pre- 
sent, in this and the subsequent chapter, certain 
scriptural facts and statements, with some reason- 
ings therefrom, which, if the reader please, he may 
consider as directed not only against this, but 
against the doctrine examined in our last chapter 
also. 

Certain circumstances connected more or less 
intimately with our Lord's transfiguration, afford a 
strong argument against the continued sleep of the 
soul. 

By combining and comparing the accounts given 
by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Peter, the incident 
alluded to seems to have been, substantially, as fol- 
lows : x 

1 Matt. xvii. 1-9; Mark ix. 2,10; Luke ix. 28-36; 2 Peter i. 16-18. 
*9 



98 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

Not many weeks previous to the Saviour's cruci- 
fixion, and in about one week after first plainly- 
announcing to the twelve his approaching suffer- 
ings, death, and resurrection, He took with him his 
three confidential disciples, Peter, James, and John, 
and ascending a high mountain, (for that particular 
region,) to a place away from any line of travel, and 
not exposed to view from any inhabited point in the 
surrounding country, he engaged for a time in spe- 
cial prayer, as was his custom in view of any special 
event about to happen in his public career. In 
the course of his devotions, a sort of sleep came 
upon his three attendants ; (perhaps from the ad- 
vent of spiritual beings, though as yet unseen by 
the disciples ;) and on its passing off, these were 
very greatly surprised at observing that the general 
appearance of His countenance was most marvel- 
ously changed; that his face shone as with the 
brilliancy of the sun 5 and that even his clothing 
glistened with a lustre not of earth. And presently 
observing also, that two men, of like shining 
appearance, were with him, who — they soon 
learned — were no other than " Moses and Elias/' 
their surprise and wonder became mingled w T ith 
the profoundest reverence and awe. These emo- 
tions, however, were, in a little time, nearly absorb- 
ed in a feeling of intense curiosity and agitating 
concern, on their perceiving that the topic of con- 
versation "between their Master and the two visi- 
tants, was His " decease v or departure, and that 
this was soon to be accomplished at Jerusalem, as 
indeed he had so lately apprized them. Thus some- 
what awe-stricken, but as yet unterrified, the wan- 
dering disciples very naturally remained silent, 
until the conversation closed, and the men were 
departing, — when Peter, with characteristic for- 
wardness, essayed to hold forth upon the interest- 



THE SLEEP OF THE SOUL. 99 

ing nature of the occasion, and the benefits to be 
derived from the interview, but finished up his 
speech much sooner than he anticipated, and, 
apparently, in a very different manner from what 
he had intended. For in the very commencement 
of his opening remarks, as he was saying, " Master, 
it is good for us to be here/' a bright, strange- 
looking cloud swiftly approached, which, in a 
moment more, completely shut down over them ; 

and so the speaker ended with " and , 77 and a 

proposal to build three booths or tabernacles, talk- 
ing, as it were, mechanically. And now occurred 
a most impressive event. A voice issued from out 
the cloud. " This is My beloved Son/ 7 — it said, 
— " in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him." 
The disciples' agitation and fear were now so 
great that they bowed forward to the ground, and 
could not even look up. Jesus presently came and 
touching them, said, " Arise, and be not afraid." 
They raised themselves up/and looked around; — 
the visitors, cloud and all, were gone ; — no one 
was in sight but Jesus and themselves. 

The presence of Moses and Elias on the Mount 
of Transfiguration, seems to be positive proof that 
they were not, at that time, in a state of sleep. 
And if not then, why now ? And if they are 
awake, why not others ? why not all ? 

That at the time of their disappearance from 
among men, both Moses and Elijah did actually ex- 
perience either the death of the body, or a change 
fully equivalent to it, is a position easily sustained. 
Thus the Scripture, over and over again, declares 
the fact of Moses' death ; and we are even told 
that he was " buried 77 in a certain " valley," 
though his " sepulchre/ 7 or place of interment, 
was unknown at, and up to, the time when the 
account of his death was appended to his writings. 



100 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

(See as referred to below. a ) And the doctrine of 
the soul's sleep teaches that the departed remain 
until the resurrection in a state of unconscious- 
ness ; also, that there had been no resurrection to 
immortality previous to that of Christ, which, as 
all are aware, was after the transfiguration. Hence, 
according to this doctrine, if, on being taken up 
from earth, the prophet Elijah — , otherwise called 
EIias, — did not undergo bodily death, or its 
equivalent, he must have come upon the mountain 
in the same mortal, corruptible body, of flesh and 
blood, that he had in the days of King Ahab. So, 
also, if Moses did not literally die, he, too, was 
there in a like condition. But that either was 
there in such a state, is believed by no one. 

Since, then, both Moses and Elijah evidently 
experienced bodily death, or its equivalent ; and 
since both of them were certainly present at the 
transfiguration, and were neither of them in a 
state of sleep ; the argument is, that the departed 
are all in a conscious state. And this argument 
would not be materially weakened, if, on account 
of Elijah's having been taken up from earth 
miraculously, his case were dropped from the 
premises, and the conclusion drawn from Moses' 
case alone. 

To avoid the above conclusion, some have taken 
the position that Moses and Elias were not really 
present at our Lord's transfiguration. In support 
of this, they insist upon the fact that, according to 
Matthew, Jesus called the whole scene a vision, 
saying, " Tell the vision to no man, until," &c. To 
this I reply, that the word " vision " is as properly 
applied to real as to unreal sights. Indeed, its 
primitive reference is to things actually seen with 

1 Deut. xxxi. 14; xxxii. 49, 50; xxxiii. 1 ; xxxiv. 5, 7; Josh. i. 1,2. 



THE SLEEP OF THE SOUL. 101 

the natural eye. The import of the word, in the 
text alluded to, is therefore to be learned from the 
circumstances of the case, and the language of the 
other Scripture writers who mention the oc- 
currence. 

1. The vision of the transfiguration was not a 
dream, whatever else it may have been ; for Luke 
expressly tells us that when u they saw His glory, 
and the two men who stood with him 7 ', the 
disciples " were awake." If, then, the events wit- 
nessed by them were not real, the disciples must 
have been in a sort of psychological trance. 

2. Peter, in speaking of the change in our Lord's 

appearance, says, " We were eye-witnesses 

of His majesty," — which evinces that, in his esti- 
mation, so much, at least, was a reality. 

3. Concerning the voice mentioned, Peter in- 
structs us that Jesus u received from God, the 
Father, honor and glory, whfen there came such a 
voice to him from the excellent glory." The 
voice, then, was really heard by Christ, at the 
least ; and moreover it must have been real, else 
how could He have received honor and glory 
thereby ? 

4. Peter further says, " This voice which came 
from heaven we heard when we were with Him in 
the holy mount." He claims, then, that he and the 
two other disciples heard the voice as truly as 
they were with Jesus on the mountain. It is evi- 
dent, then, that at the time of their hearing it the 
disciples were not in a trance state. 

5. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all inform us that 
the men talked with Jesus ; that is, they addressed 
him, and he them, in turn. This, alone, would go 
very far toward establishing the reality of their 
presence. Did B^e talk to mere phantoms ? Did 
He imagine that they talked to Him ? If He did 



102 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD. 

thus imagine, would the disciples also imagine the 
same things ? 

6. And lastly, Mark and Luke do not employ the 
word "vision/' but make use of language un- 
equivocally descriptive of real events. The 
former tells us that Jesus charged the disciples to 
" tell no man what thing they had seen until the Son 
of man were risen from the dead ; " and the latter 
assures us that they " told no man in those days 
any of those things which they had seen." The 
vision, then, was a reality ; and Moses and Blias 
were each there, in propria persona ; andthe^argu- 
ment based upon their appearance is valid and 
conclusive. 

The " bright cloud " which overshadowed them, 
into which the men seem to have entered, and out 
from which the voice proceeded as from the 
Supreme Father, was clearly the same as is called 
in the Old Testament " the glory of the Lord/' — 
which " glory " abode upon Mount Sinai while 
Moses was gone up thither, — enveloped and filled 
the tabernacle when it was first set up, and after- 
ward filled the temple when it was finished, — and 
appeared publicly, on various occasions, in the 
early times of the Jewish church. l This " bright " 
or luminous cloud was all along regarded as the 
symbol of the Divine presence ; and in accordance 
with this is the fact that the voice, which the three 
evangelists all inform us came " out of the cloud/' 
Peter describes as proceeding " from the excellent 
glory P By the way, this is a strong proof of the 
reality of the whole of the vision. The so-called 
« glory of the Lord," when seen in the early times, 

1 Ex. xxiv. 15-18; xl. 34-38; 1 Kings Yi^. 10 5 11; Lev. ix. 6, 23; 
Ezek. i. 28; and other places. 



THE SLEEP OP THE SOUL. 103 

was obviously seen by the natural eye, and not by 
going into the trance state. 

With this view of the subject, we may also per- 
ceive a very good reason for our Saviour's retiring 
with the disciples " up into a high mountain apart 
by themselves ; " for the glory of the Lord, when- 
ever it appeared in the Old Testament times, seems 
to have been as visible to all as would have been 
any other object of like brightness and magnitude, 
in the same situation ; and the design of God, in 
this case, seems to have been, that no one should 
then witness its appearance, with the accompany- 
ing events and visitants, except Jesus and the 
three disciples. 

il The major includes the minor." If Moses and 
Elias were atvake at the time of their appearance, 
they of course were alive, though their bodies had 
been dead for centuries. Their appearance, there- 
fore, furnishes an irrefragable argument against the 
correctness of the doctrine examined in our last 
chapter. 



CHAPTER XIL 

THE SLEEP OP THE SOUL — CONCLUDED. 

When Jesus was discoursing with his disciples 
just prior to his apprehension, he said, " Little 
children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye 
shall seek me ; and as J said to the Itlews, ' Whither 
I go ye can not come/ so now I say to you." 1 
Observing the effect of this announcement upon 
their minds, he, after a few other remarks, added as 
follows : 

" Let not your heart be troubled : In my Father's 

house are many mansions : if it were not so, I would have 
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and 
prepare [, better, " when I shall have gone and prepared " ] a 
place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; 
that where I am, there ye may be also." John xiv. 1-3. 

It is scarcely supposable that the Saviour's 
meaning in the above passage was really to the 
effect that in his Father's house are many sleeping- 
rooms ; and that he was going thither to fit up an 
apartment for his apostles to repose in, through a 
long, long night of unconsciousness, which was to 
intervene between the time of their deaths and the 
far-off morning of a yet future resurrection. But 
what less could He have meant, if the doctrine 
under examination was really His doctrine ? 

The apostles were at that time in His company 
— in the enjoyment of His society; but He had 

1 John xiii. 33; vii. 34; viii. 21. 



THE SLEEP OF THE SOUL. 105 

just notified them that he was about to leave them, 
and to go where th^y could not follow him. For 
their comfort, therefore, he assures them that he 
will come again, and will himself conduct them 
to his heavenly Father's house, that they may 
again be with him. Now, laying preconceived 
opinions aside, does it not really seem as though 
the Saviour intended to be understood as promising 
them that when they should again be where He 
would be, they should again enjoy his society ? 
And how could they do this, unless they should be 
in a conscious state ? 

That the primitive Christians did not expect to 
remain in an unconscious state for a long term of 
time before being received by their ascended 
Master, is clearly indicated by the circumstance 
that Stephen, on being favored with a view of Him 
in heaven, exclaimed, while being stoned to death, 
" Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Query. Is it to 
be believed that this, the dying petition of the 
first Christian martyr, has not 3 r et been granted? 

At the close of the parables of the one lost 
sheep and the lost piece of silver, the Saviour 
avers that there is " joy " " in heaven," "in the 
presence of- the angels of God, over one sinner 
that repenteth." * Observe, here, that our Lord's 
affirmation is not that the angels rejoice over the 
repentant sinner — (this, though by no means 
incredible, but quite the reverse, He neither 
affirms nor denies — ) what He affirms is precisely 
this, that there is joy in their presence. But this 
affirmation of His most clearly implies — what 
almost any person not asleep is abundantly capable 
of perceiving — that, at that time, there were 
beings in heaven who not only were not angels, but 

1 Luke xy. 7, 10. 

10 



106 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

were in some sense inferior to angels, being in their 
presence, in like manner as — in Luke i. 19 — the 
angel Gabriel claims to " stand " habitually "in 
the presence of God." And it is as clearly im- 
plied also, that such beings, other and somewhat 
" lower than the angels/' are the ones who the 
Saviour would have us understand were affected 
with " joy " at the repentance of sinners. But if 
Adam and Eve, and all their then deceased posterity, 
were at that very time in a state of profound sleep, 
and had been ever since their deaths, who could 
those " joy" affected beings have been? 

Says Paul to the brethren at Philippi, " I am in 
a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and 
to be with Christ ; which is far better : neverthe- 
less to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." } 
He was thus willing to abide here a while longer, 
yet rather desirous to depart. While remaining in 
the flesh, he would enjoy at least the satisfaction 
of doing good by his active labors in the cause of 
Christ ; — can it be, then, that he was really and 
understandingly desirous of entering upon a con- 
dition characterized by an entire suspension of 
enjoyment, as well as of activity? 

The apostle was not merely a thoughtful man — 
he was an active, vigorous thinker. Could he 
possibly, then, consider it so very " far better " 
than the present life, to go into a state of thought- 
less sleep for a series at least of years ? being in- 
deed " with Christ," in the sense of being laid 
away for repose in that particular department of 
the universe inhabited by Christ, yet totally 
incapable of enjoying even that fact, because un- 
conscious of it? — unconscious even of the 
Saviour's existence, yea, of the existence of God, 

Phil. i. 23, 24. 



THE SLEEP OF THE SOUL. 107 

and indeed that there was then such a being as 
himself, or ever had been? I confess I think not. 
In an other place, the same apostle declares as 
follows : 

" Therefore we are always confident, knowing that whilst we 
are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. (For 
we walk by faith, not by sight.) We are confident, I say, and 
willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present 
with the Lord." 2 Cor. v. 6-8. 

Observe, here, that it was while the Christians 
were absent from the Lord they had to walk by- 
faith instead of sight — the time when they could 
not see the Saviour, but had to be content with 
believing' in him, was while they were in the body. 
And why should the apostle throw in that 
parenthesis, — (" we walk by faith, not by sight/'") 
— unless he meant to give them the idea that when 
they should come to be present with Christ they 
would be privileged to walk by sight, and not alone 
by faith ? According to Paul, then, the early 
believers would not only be with the Saviour on 
leaving the body, but when with him would be 
quite aware of the fact. 

As regards seeing Christ in his glorified state, 
take the following from the beloved disciple, ob- 
serving that John sometimes uses a pronoun to 
designate the Saviour, without havin • first used 
the appropriate noun. The rendering given varies 
somewhat from that in the Common Version, being 
more literal, and — , as is believed, — more cor- 
rect. 

" Beloved, now are we children of God ; but what we shall 
be, has not yet been manifested ; we know, however, that, 
when it shall have been manifested, we shall be like Him, for 
we shall see Him as He is. 1 ' 1 John iii. 2. 

Those seeing, must certainly know something ; 
and those knowing any thing, are, of course, in a 



108 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

conscious state. How can we rationally, then, 
receive as a Scripture doctrine, that form of faith 
which teaches that when we leave the body we fall 
into a state of total insensibility and utter dor- 
mancy, which may last for perhaps thousands and 
thousands of years, during all which time we shall 
sleep, and sleep, and sleep, in wakeless, dreamless, 
motionless hibernation, not even for one instant 
knowing enough to know that we — know not any 
thing. 

The query may now arise, Is not the writer 
aware that the Scripture declares, in just the words 
used by him, that the dead " know not any thing " ? 
I reply, I am perfectly aware of it. It was for the 
special purpose of calling attention to the text 
alluded to, that I employed its particular phraseol- 
ogy, instead of the stronger and more natural ex- 
pression, a know nothing.' 7 

I defer to the authority of the Scriptures ; but, 
like every other Bible man, I receive Scripture 
testimony " as I understand it." 

In interpreting a Scripture text, there is danger 
of mistaking the topic upon which the writer is 
treating, and so of being led into erroneous con- 
clusions by the mere sound of words. Thus, 

The same Bible which teaches, unequivocally, 
that " in Christ shall all be made alive," as also that 
" there shall be a resurrection of the dead," uni- 
versally, declares just as plainly concerning certain 
persons, " They are dead, they shall not live ; they 
are deceased, they shall not rise. 7 ' 1 This sounds 
as if teaching that some shall not live after death ; 
— shall not rise' after their decease; — but is it 
truly a Scripture doctrine that some of mankind 

* 1 Cor. xv. 22; Acts xxiv. 15; Isa. xxvi. 14. 



THE SLEEP OF THE SOUL. 109 

have no existence after death? Most certainly 
not. The text just quoted has reference simply to 
living again on the earth — to rising into this mode 
of being. 

So the Psalmist asks, " Shall the dead arise and 
praise thee " ? the implied answer to which is. No, 
by no means. Yet we should by no means under- 
stand the writer as denying the rising of the dead 
in the Christian sense. He was evidently speak- 
ing of arising, that is, of getting up from a re- 
clining posture, to join in the worship of God here 
on earth. Compare a passage from the prophet in 
which it is said, " The living, the living, he shall 
praise thee, as I do this day : ' 7 &c. * 

But to return to the text from Ecclesiastes, 
" The dead know not any thing." Though the 
expression, " the dead " has reference commonly 
to persons, considered as spiritual beings, I am 
fully convinced that here, as in a few other places, 
it refers to the visible dead ; and that its sense is, 
Dead bodies are destitute of knowledge. That it 
has no reference to aught beyond this mode of 
being, is apparent from several considerations : 

1. The passage of which this noted text forms a 
part, closes thus : " Neither have they any more a 
portion for ever in anything that is done under the 
sun" This language unmistakably relates to mat- 
ters and things in the present mode of being. 

2. In the context, a few verses previous to the 
text under consideration, " the business that it 
done upon the earth 77 is expressly mentioned. 

3. Immediately succeeding the text, occurs the 
following : " Neither have they any more a re- 
ward: for the memory of them is forgotten. 77 
Forgotten by whom? If by persons in this state 

'Pa. lxxxviii. 10; Isa. xxxviii. 18—20. 
10* 



110 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

of being, then the absence of reward belongs to 
this state of being ; for our forgetfulness of the 
dead, or of their deserts, is no reason for the ab- 
sence of reward in an hereafter state. The pas- 
sage, then, can not consistently be interpreted as 
expressive of the condition of the departed in an 
other life, unless we adopt the monstrous conclu- 
sion that the spirits of such, (or perhaps the doings 
of such,) are forgotten by Him from Whom their 
spirits proceeded, and to Whom, as even the 
preacher assures us, they are destined at length to 
return. 1 

4. As a further proof that the reference of the 
passage is to the present mode of being, observe 
that a few verses after it, the Preacher holds forth 
thus : " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it 
with thy might." It is well-nigh indisputable that, 
in this place, the preacher is exhorting to diligence 
in the ordinary business of life. He accordingly 
adds, as an incentive to diligence, " for there is no 
work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in 
the grave whither thou goest." 2 As if he had 
said that the common laborer, the mechanic, the 
professional man, and the philosopher, all cease 
their accustomed pursuits at death. 

The passage embracing the text in question, 
reads thus : 

" For to him who is joined to all the living, there is hope : 
for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living 
know that they shall die : but the dead know not any thing, 
neither have they any more a reward : fcr the memory of them 
is forgotten. Also their'love, and their hatred, and their envy, 
are now perished , neither have they any more a portion for 
ever in any thing that is done under the sun." Eccl. ix. 4-7. 

The sense of the above, (omitting one clause,) I 
take to be substantially as follows : 

1 Eccl. xii. 7. 2 Eccl. ix. 10. 



THE SLEEP OF THE SOUL. Ill 

As long as a man has life, there is hope of his 
being in some way useful ; for as a dog that is alive 
is better than a lion that is dead, so the most in- 
significant of our race, if living, is of more real 
importance in the world than the lifeless body of 
even the greatest monarch. For any live man 
knows enough to know that he shall die ; but a 
corpse knows nothing ; neither are such the sub- 
jects of recompense * * *. Also, the likes, and the 
dislikes, and the other emotions common to men, 
they are destitute of; neither have they any part, 
or interest, in any worldly business whatever. 

In perfect accordance with the above interpreta- 
tion, is the declaration, " Neither have they any 
more a reward." The word M reward," in the 
Scriptures, has the sense of " recompense," being 
applied to punishments, as well as to rewards, in 
the modern sense of the term. "Woe to the 
wicked ! " says the prophet, " it shall be ill with 
him : for the reward of his hands shall be given 
him." * Rewards, in at least this sense, are often 
inflicted upon the bodies of transgressors; but 
rarely upon dead bodies. In regard to such inflic- 
tions, it is, in general, as if a dead man's deeds 
were forgotten. So, also, as to their having no 
more any part or portion in what is " done under 
the sun." The bodies of men, while alive, have a 
great deal to do with such doings ; but this all 
ceases at death. Solomon is set forth in the Scrip- 
tures as having been an exceedingly wise man, but 
he is not therein recognized as a prophet. He was 
unquestionably a philosopher, but certainly was 
not an apostle. It therefore seems quite unlikely 
that he should have undertaken to describe the 
condition of departed spirits. And if he really 

3 Isaiah iii. 11, 



112 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

did attempt this in the passage we have been con- 
sidering, and especially if he was divinely inspired 
so to do, is it not passing strange that his teach- 
ings on the subject are not quoted nor alluded to 
in all the Christian Scriptures, and that neither 
Jesus Christ, nor his apostles, ever put forth any 
thing resembling such teachings ? 

It may now be asked, Do we not read in the 
Scriptures of persons' falling asleep, sleeping, and 
being asleep, when the meaning is that they died, 
or were dead ? Certainly. Yet this fact, so far 
from supporting the doctrine under examination, 
goes directly to subvert it. Such expressions relate 
solely to the death of the body. See chap. ii. 

No where, in the Scriptures, do we read that the 
souls or spirits of the dead either sleep or die, in 
even a figurative sense. It is the spirits of those 
in the flesh who are liable to get into this con- 
dition : " Awake, thou who sleepest," says the 
Scripture, " and arise from the dead, and Christ 
shall give thee light." 1 

In one place we indeed learn that when the Lord 
Jesus shall himself descend from heaven, those 
" who sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." 2 
This may seem to teach that at the time of their 
descent, the spirits of such persons will be asleep. 
Common sense, however, most clearly teaches that 
this could not well be the case ; and it is proper to 
know that the passage, literally rendered, teaches 
— not that they will then " sleep," or be " asleep," 
but — simply that they will have "fallen asleep," 
that is, will have died. See last chapter of this 
work. 

lEph, y, 14, 2 lThes,iv, 14. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE EARTHLY BODY. 

It has been a commonly received doctrine in the 
Christian Church for many centuries, believed and 
advocated by very many great and good men, that 
the Christian resurrection is specifically the re- 
uniting of soul and body. It is held that the very 
same bodies we inhabit here are to be forthcom- 
ing at the resurrection ; though it is also held that 
these same bodies will then be " spiritual." The 
popular idea is, that the body is to rise entire from 
the grave ; (as though every body had been 
buried ;) the learned view of the case, is that the 
bodies we shall take on at the resurrection are to 
be formed out of the very same atoms of matter 
which now constitute our present ones. 

The re-union of the souls and bodies of all the 
dead at the sounding of the archangel's trumpet, 
has been a somewhat fruithful theme of pulpit de- 
clamation. In " The Columbian Orator," a School 
Book of half a century ago, occurs — on pp. 98, 
99 — a fine specimen of this sort of rhapsodizing, 
partly after the declaimer's own imaginings, partly 
in prose imitation of a celebrated poet, and partly 
in the poet's own words. Thus, after speaking of 
the archangel's utterance as being " a summons 
not only to dead bodies to rise, but to the souls 
that once animated them, to appear and to be re- 



114 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

united to them/' the reverend orator goes on as 
follows : 

" This summons shall spread through every 
corner of the universe ; and Heaven, Earth, and 
Hell, and all their inhabitants, shall hear and obey. 
Now, methinks, I see, I hear the earth heaving, 
charnel houses rattling, tombs bursting, graves 
opening. Now the nations under ground begin to 
stir. There is a noise and a shaking among the 
dry bones. The dust is all alive, and in motion, 
and the globe breaks and trembles, as with an 
earthquake, whilst this vast army is working its 
way through, and bursting into life. The ruins of 
human bodies are scattered far and wide, and have 
passed through many and surprising transforma- 
tions. A limb in one country, and an other in an 
other ; here the head, and there the trunk ; and 
the ocean rolling between. 

" But now, at the sound of the trumpet, they 
shall all be collected, wherever they were scatter- 
ed ; all properly sorted and united, however they 
were confused ; atom to its fellow atom, bone to its 
fellow bone. Now, methinks, you may see the air 
darkened with fragments of bodies, flying from 
country to country, to meet and join their proper 
parts : 

" — ' Scattered limbs, and all 

The various bones, obsequious to the call, 
Self-moved, advance; the neck perhaps to meet 
The distant head ; the legs, the distant feet. 
Dreadful to view, see, through the dusky sky, 
Fragments of bodies in confusion fly, 
To distant regions journeying, there to claim 
Deserted members, and complete the frame. 
The severed head and trunk shall join once more, 
Though realms now rise between, and oceans roar. 
The trumpet's sound each vagrant mote shall hear, 
And, whether fixed in earth, or free in air, 
Shall heed the signal, wafted in the wind, 
And not one sleeping atom lag behind.' " 



RESURECTION OF THE EARTHLY BODY. 115 

I object to this doctrine, in the first place, for 
the reason that, as regards mankind in whole, the 
particular result which it contemplates, however 
explained, is utterly impossible. 

In asserting the impossibility of giving to each 
human being in the- hereafter state, a body com- 
posed of the identical atoms of matter which form- 
ed his' earthly body at death, I do not by any 
means deny the possibility of doing this with a 
select number of individuals. Nor is it denied 
that if God had been pleased so to do, he might 
have so ordered things as that all and each could 
be re-embodied in the manner this doctrine teaches. 
But I do deny that, in the present arrangement of 
things, such a re-embodiment is at all possible to 
mankind universally. 

No natural fact is better established than this, 
that an entire transformation of matter is going on 
perpetually. Both vegetables and animals derive 
a portion of their constituent parts from the min- 
eral kingdom, and ultimately yield it back ; the 
remains of animals furnish no inconsiderable share 
of the pabulum of the vegetable kingdom ; and 
vegetables, in a direct or an indirect manner, consti- 
tute the food of animals almost exclusively. The 
fields and forests, in many parts, are, as it were, 
but one vast burying-ground, on which grow grains 
and grasses, fuel, and fruits, and food in general, 
over the undistinguished graves of age-forgotten 
generations. The bodies of the ancients are thus 
incorporated with those of the moderns ; and it is 
not at all improbable that, in a period sufficiently 
remote, some one, if not many, of the countless 
millions of atoms of matter which make up the 
body of any given human being, has helped to 
form the body of at least one other human being ; 
and it may even do the like again, at some time far 
enough in the future. 



116 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

It would doubtless be quite possible for Omnis- 
cience and Omnipotence to gather up every indivi- 
dual atom of matter ever having entered ijito the 
composition of each of the solids, liquids, and fluids, 
making up the bodies of all human beings, down to 
the very instant of their deaths ; and it would seem 
to be equally possible to re-construct distinct and 
perfect bodies, for a certain number of persons, out 
of the very atoms of matter, neither less, more, nor 
different, which made up their former bodies ; and 
especially those atoms belonging to their bodies at 
death ; — yet to do even this last for every 
individual of the race, can not but be perfectly 
impossible ; seeing that in at least a few instances, 
it must be a fact that as many as one of the atoms 
of matter belonging to the body of a person, even 
at the moment of death, has, at some time, be- 
longed also to the body of some other person at 
death. 

But why should those atoms belonging to our 
bodies at the instant of death, be the only ones 
selected for our spiritual embodiment ? Some of 
them may not have been incorporated with the 
earthly body more than an hour or two ; perhaps 
not five minutes ; and when they came, others 
likely departed, after a companionship perhaps of 
years. Are these new-comers so much more near- 
ly related to the spirit than are the others ? 

Do those persons who assert the atomic identity 
of our " spiritual " and our " natural " or animal 
bodies, really consider " whereof they affirm " ? 
The atoms of matter, if not infinitesimally small, 
are at least indefinitely so ; and they are therefore 
innumerably numerous in — not to say the human 
body, but — even the smallest visible object. Thus 
the insect denominated a mite is so very diminutive 
in size that, when looked at with the naked eye, it 
appears like a particle of dust ; and, when thus 



RESURRECTION OF THE EARTHLY BODY. 117 

. viewed, we should hardly suspect it to be a living 
creature were it not for its manifest power of 
locomotion. Yet the microscope reveals this 
astonishing fact, that its body is as perfectly 
formed, and that it is made up of as many parts,- as 
is the body of a much larger animal. Were one of 
its legs taken off at midway the length of it, such 
amputated part, though scarcely perceptible by 
the ordinary unassisted eye, would evidently con- 
tain an almost incalculable number of atoms, if 
being a complicated structure, with several 
ingeniously formed joints, numerous muscles ot 
various sizes, &c, &c. ; and were it cut up into as 
many pieces as it would be possible to make out 
of the corresponding part of an elephant, the num- 
ber of atoms in each piece would still be literally 
inconceivable. This, to some, may seem incredible ; 
yet its truth is scientifically demonstrable. 

2. In the second place, though the resurrection 
of the earthly body were in all instances possible, 
it would seem to be wholly useless. Is it claimed 
that such a proceeding is necessary to our future 
identity ? In the present life, our bodies are con- 
stantly changing ; yet our consciousness of identity 
is not in the least impaired thereby. The body of 
John Smith at 70 years of age may not contain a 
single atom — or but few atoms, at most — of the 
matter which formed the body of John Smith at 
10 ; and besides, in the intervening years, his body 
may have been wholly or mainly changed, five, 
ten, or twenty times ; and yet he is unmistakably 
conscious of having been the same John Smith all 
along. 

3. In the third place, I object to the doctrine in 
question as being evidently unscriptural. 

In one of Paul's epistles, where he is treating 
expressly upon " the resurrection of the dead," he 
11 



118 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

supposes ~some person to interpose two impor- . 
tant questions relating to the dead, the latter of 
which happens to be .the very one now under 
consideration : " With what body do they come " ? 
The answer of the apostle is significant : 

He refers the questioner (, whom he seems to 
regard as a sneering objector,) to the sowing and 
springing up of " grain " ; and the figure of sow- 
ing, &c. is kept up throughout his answer. And, 
leaving out what he says in reply to the other 
question, as also two or three explanatory remarks, 
and a half dozen or so of truisms, not necessary to 
be repeated now and here, his answer is worded 
thus : " Thou sowest not that body that shall 

be, But God giveth it a body ...... So 

also is the resurrection of the dead It is 

sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body. 7 ' 1 
In this passage, the apostle not only omits to put 
forth the doctrine in question, but seems to state 
its opposite with entire clearness. See Chap, xxx 
of this work. 

It may perhaps be argued that as Jesus Christ 
was raised with the body he had before death, and 
the Scripture says " we shall be like him '\ there- 
fore our earthly bodies will be raised. On the 
same principle it might be argued that as His body 
did not suffer putrefaction, (or, in the Scripture 
phrase, " saw no corruption,") so neither will ours. 
But it is believed, on all hands, that, in this last 
named particular, the circumstances attendant on 
His resurrection differ very materially from those 
which will be attendant on ours ; and yet that this 
does not contravene the Scripture which says we 
shall be like him. Why, then, may we not differ 
from Him as to the circumstance in question, and 

1 1 Cor. xv. 35-44. 



RESURRECTION OF THE EARTHLY BODY. 119 

yet be like him in the proper sense of the Scripture 
alluded to ? 

There was doubtless a special reason whyjour 
Lord was raised in the manner in which He was. 
His rising was to furnish the strongest evidence 
that could then be given of the reality of an after- 
death existence for mail. And as the fact of His 
rising must be certainly Jcnoivn to be a fact, in 
order to be a suitable and sufficient foundation for 
so interesting and important a doctrine, it was 
requisite that ocular, audible, and tangible proof 
should be given that He had been raised. He 
therefore put on the same body after as before his 
demise, — and thus was seen, heard, handled, and 
fully recognized ; so that his personal identity was 
established beyond the possibility of doubt. But 
it surely is by no means incredible that within his 
sensible body he had a spiritual one, such as we 
are to have when we come to be like him. (See 
Chap, xxxv.) 

There are two texts which may seem to plainly 
teach the doctrine under examination, provided 
our preconceptions in its favor are of sufficient 
strength : 

" If the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead 
dwell in you, He who raised up Christ from the dead shall also 
quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in 
you." Rom. viii. 11. 

The doctrine of the above text is clearly the 
bestowing — not of immortal, but — of spiritual or 
religious life, usually characterized as everlasting 
or eternal. This process is here compared to the 
revivification or quickening of Christ's fleshly 
body at His resurrection. The apostle, elsewhere, 
not only represents this spiritual quickening of 
believers as having been already accomplished, but 



120 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

lie also couples it with a resurrection, and that 
with a heavenly state, and the whole in this world : 

" And you hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses 

and sins." " God hath quickened us together with 

Christ and hath raised us up together, and made us 

sit together in heavenly places in Christ." Eph. ii. 1-6. 

The second of the two texts alluded to, reads 
thus : 

" For our conversation [or " citizenship "] is in heaven ; 
from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus 
Christ; who shall change [literally, "will transform"] our 
vile body, that it may be fashioned like his glorious body, ac- 
cording to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all 
things to himself." Phil. iii. 20, 21. 

A careful comparison of this last text with 
others from the same apostle, will show with much 
clearness that the change or transformation men- 
tioned is of the same character as the quickening 
just considered ; and also that it may take place in 
a state of mortality : 

" We all beholding as in a glass the glory of the 

Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory." 
2 Cor. iii. 18. 

" I beseech you that ye present your bodies a liv- 
ing sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God And be not con- 
formed to this world ; but be ye transformed by the renewing 
of your mind." Rom. xii. 1, 2. 

That passage in Ezekiel which tells of a- sort of 
resurrection of a great quantity of " dry bones/' 
has been thought to teach the rising of the earth- 
ly body. Yet it seems scarcely possible for an 
intelligent reader to peruse the account of the 
vision without perceiving that it is the return of 
the Jews from their captivity in Babylon, which is 
therein intended to be set forth. Thus, in the 
sequel, it is actually said : 

" Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel : 
behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost : 



RESURKECTION OF THE EARTHLY BODY. 121 

Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus saith the 

Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and 
cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into 
the land of Israel" Ezek. xxxvii. 1-14. 

There is an account in Matthew affording a 
more plausible argument for the resurrection of 
the earthly body than any other passage in the 
sacred volume : 

11 Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded 
up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent 
in twain from the top to the bottom ; and the earth did quake, 
and the rocks [were] rent ; and the graves were open ; and 
many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the 
graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and 
appeared to many. Now when the centurion, and those who 
were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those 
things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this 
was the Son of God." Matt, xxvii. 50-54." 

The above account, as explicit as it is in respect 
to the events narrated, does not however prove, 
or really go to prove, the resurrection of the 
bodies of all the dead, or of all the saints even ; 
for the rising of the bodies of those saints was 
clearly miraculous ; and the established manner of 
the resurrection (, I do not say the fact, but the 
manner,*) is not properly provable by miracles. Let 
me explain : 

" After a storm, comes a calm." The Fact em- 
bodied in this proverb, is clearly a Divine appoint 
ment; as is also the fact revealed in the Scriptures, 
that "The Dead Rise" or "are Raised." A 
violent tempest once swept over the surface of a 
little lake upon which Jesus and his disciples were 
sailing. The foaming billows, tossing themselves 
on high, threatened a watery grave to all on board. 
" A great calm " immediately followed upon His 
authoritative command to the winds and waves, 
a Peace ! Be still." This was an astonishing 



122 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

miracle. It most forcibly exhibited the great 
power with which that Being Who rules the winds 
and waves had invested him ; and so went clearly 
to prove the divinity of his mission, as also the 
truth of his doctrine. But it needs scarcely be 
hinted, that the manner in which storms in general 
were to subside into calms thereafter, was not 
thereby shown. 

So, though certain bodies of saints are declared 
to have arisen, and to have come out of the graves, 
&c, on the occasion of Christ's resurrection, it by 
no means follows that a like honor awaits the 
bodies of all our race. 

Note. The foregoing remarks upon the passage 
giving an account of bodies of saints rising, &c, 
are made upon the admission that the whole of the 
passage is genuine — as indeed it may be. And 
yet certain circumstances seem to indicate that 
that part of it which 1 have placed in Italics^ is an 
interpolation. Thus, 

- 1. In no other place in the New Testament, is 
the rising of those bodies, with their subsequent 
movements and manifestations, even alluded to. 

2. The account in question has very much the 
appearance of having been foisted into Matthew's 
narration ; for just before, and just after this ac- 
count, the evangelist is certainly narrating events 
which purport to have transpired just before, at, 
and directly after the time of our Saviour's death ; 
that is, on Friday afternoon; whereas the rising of 
those saints' bodies, their coming out of the graves, 
&c, are expressly declared to have happened 
"after His resurrection;" that is, after the dawn 
of Sunday morning. And the fact now about to 
be mentioned, may also have some significancy in 
this connection, that the noun egersis, which is here 
employed in the Greek of the phrase, " after His 



RESURRECTION OP THE EARTHLY BODY. 123 

resurrection," occurs no where else in the whole 
New Testament. (See Chap. ii. of this work,) 

3. The exclamation of the centurion and his 
men was obviously called forth — not by any thing 
that occurred after Christ's resurrection, but — by 
what happened at and just after Christ's death; 
and the words of Matthew, that they " saw [that 
is, l witnessed 7 ] the earthquake and those things 
that were done," and then exclaimed as they did, 
seem clearly to show that after saying, " and the 
earth did quake/' he — Matthew — had not made 
mention of any events which the centurion and 
his men had not witnessed at the time they thus 
spoke. 

It is at least an allowable conjecture, that Mat- 
thew finished the sentence with saying, " and the 
graves were opened ; " or perhaps more properly, 
" were widened," or " were caused to gape ; " 
(meaning thereby either that the three graves 
which, perhaps, had been dug near the crosses for 
the reception of the bodies of Jesus and those cru- 
cified with him, were affected in that manner by the 
earthquake ; or else that some other graves in that 
quarter were thus disturbed ;) and that what fol- 
lows in the latter half of the 52d, and in the whole 
of the 53d verse, was interpolated at an early day. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE DOCTRINE OF TWO RESURRECTIONS. 

It is very generally held that there are two re- 
surrections of the literally dead, differing in time 
and quality ; the first, of the righteous, to a state 
of happiness ; the second, of the wicked, to a state 
of misery. 

I deem this doctrine erroneous for many reasons, 
among which are the following : 

1. The fifteenth chapter of first Corinthians is a 
professed dissertation upon the subject of the re- 
surrection ; and probably the chapter contains as 
much of matter directly relating to that subject 
as does all the rest of the New Testament. Yet 
in the whole chapter, not the least intimation is 
given of there being but one sort of resurrection. 
It is " the resurrection of the dead " in general, of 
which the Apostle treats throughout the chapter. 

2. The Epistles of Paul make up about two- 
sevenths of the New Testament ; yet in no part of 
all these, any more than in the chapter just named, 
is the least mention made of there being more 
resurrections than one. It may indeed be claimed, 
and with some degree of plausibility, that, in a 
couple of passages from his pen, the two-resurrec- 
tion doctrine is taught by implication ; yet a per- 
haps troublesome question may probably intrude 



THE DOCTRINE OF TWO RESURRECTIONS. 125 

itself: If the great apostle had believed in two 
resurrections, would he not as much as once have 
stated the doctrine in express terms ? 

But the common doctrine of two resurrections 
is not even implied, in the writings of Paul, as w r e 
shall soon see from an examination of the two texts 
above alluded to. 

In the Epistle to the Hebrews we are told of " a 
better resurrection," which of course implies an 
other of a less desirable quality. But the doctrine 
under examination is not recognised in this text ; 
since its less desirable resurrection is plainly a 
bringing back to life in this world. Says the writer, 
" Women received their dead raised to life again ; 
and others were tortured, not accepting deliver- 
ance ; that they might obtain a better resurrec- 
tion." 1 A better resurrection than what one ? 
Obviously, than the one he had just mentioned. 

In the first part of the text above cited, the 
writer doubtless alludes to the raising of certain 
children to life, and the restoring of them to their 
mothers, by the two prophets, Elijah and Elisha. 2 
In the last part, the allusion is not so manifest ; but 
perhaps it is to certain persons mentioned in the 
Apocrypha as having been tortured to death for 
their adherence to the Jewish religion? 3 

The other text from Paul in which it may be 
thought that the two-resurrection doctrine is 
taught by implication, is that one where we read 
that " the dead in Christ shall rise first." Yet any 
one, by consulting the passage, may perceive, un- 
mistakably, that no second rising of any dead is 
there implied ; since the contrast is not between 
the dead in Christ and some other class of dead, 

1 Hebrew xi. 35. 

2 1 Kings xvii. 17-24; 2 Kin^s iv. 32-37. 

3 2 Maccabees vii. 9-36; xiv.~46. 



126 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

but between the dead there mentioned and some 
others who, at a certain period, were to be " alive 
" The dead in Christ shall rise first : then we who 
are alive and remain shall be caught up/- &C. 1 

It is apparent, then, that 

The common doctrine of two resurrections re- 
ceives no support from the testimony of the Apos- 
tle to the Gentiles, so far as the same may be 
gathered from his numerous Epistles. 

3. In accordance with the foregoing, is the fact 
that this same apostle, when arraigned before the 
Roman governor Felix, testifies of having " hope 
toward God .... that there shall be a resurrec- 
tion of the dead, both of the just and unjust." 2 
In this text, so far from saying any thing of two 
resurrections, the one of the just, and the other of 
the unjust, he puts the word anastasis in the singu- 
lar number, and then tells us that it includes 
" both " the classes mentioned, which is to say, the 
just and the unjust taken together. " There shall 
be a resurrection " — are his words — - "both of the 
just and unjust." 

4. Our Lord, in his conversation with the Sad- 
ducees upon the resurrection, makes no mention 
of more resurrections than one. This he denomi- 
nates "the resurrection of the dead" — not of the 
righteous dead, nor of any particular class of dead 
whatever, but " of the dead " — a fact not easily 
accounted for on the supposition that He recog- 
nized two literal resurrections for the literally 
dead. 

It maybe replied to this, that, according to Luke, 
the resurrection our Lord taught in his conversa- 
tion with the Sadducee Doctors, was for those only 
" who shall be accounted worthy ; " which lan- 

1 1 Thes. iv. 16, 17. * Acts xxiv. 15. 



THE DOCTRINE OF TWO RESURRECTIONS. 127 

guage implies that others shall not be thus account- 
ed ; and from this it may be argued that for these 
last there is to be an other resurrection. I an- 
swer, 

The language above quoted indeed implies that 
at some time some shall not be accounted worthy ; 
but it by no means implies that this shall be the 
case always. If, however, it were a fact that this 
implied -unworthiness were even declaredly per- 
petual, the claiming of any resurrection at all for 
such unworthy persons, is the last thing that 
should be thought of; since the worthiness men- 
tioned has particular reference to rising or not ris- 
ing. " To be, or not to be," &c. 

Christ's words are as follows, according to the 
Common Version : 

"The children of this world " -which is to say, mankind 

in the present mode of being " marry," &c. ; " but those 

who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the 
resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in 
marriage : neither can they die any more ; for they are equal 
to [or 'like ' ] the angels ; and are the children of God, being 
the children of the resurrection." Luke xx. 34-36. 

Now, if some of our race shall never "be ac- 
counted worthy to obtain that world and the re- 
surrection '' taught by Christ, they must, for aught 
that appears, be never inhabitants of any other 
world than this ; and they, must either perish at 
death, or, if raised at all, must be the subjects of a 
Pharisaic resurrection, that is, to a state of mor 
tality on this earth. For not being " the children" 
of the Christian resurrection, they can not be 
" children of God ; " they can not be " equal to [or 
like] angels,' 7 that is, spiritual beings ; nor does the 
passage affirm concerning the imworthy, that they 
do not marry. Indeed, the declaration, " Neither 
can they die any more/ 7 is made concerning none 



128 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

but the worthy : hence it is a necessary inference 
that if any shall remain eternally unworthy to ob- 
tain what our Lord here mentions, they will either 
cease to exist at death, as was believed by the 
Sadducees ; or else they will die, and be born, and 
live, and marry, and die, and so on, like as the 
Pharisees believed, ad indeftnitum. 

Either, therefore, the doctrine of the Pharisees, 
or of the Sadducees, is the true one ; or else, as 
certainly as Jesus of Nazareth held the true doc- 
trine, all our race will be accounted worthy to 
obtain the things mentioned by Him, in due time. 

The foregoing remarks upon the expression, 
" those who shall be accounted worthy/ 7 &c, are 
made upon the admission, for the time being, that 
the rendering in the Common Version is correct. 
That it is so, however, as to the tense of the verb 
in the phrase here given, is considerably more than 
doubtful. (See Chap, xxvii.) 

There is one other text to be considered in this 
connection — the text which mentions " the resur- 
rection of the just." 

Those accustomed to consider the two-resurrec- 
tion doctrine as certainly taught in the Scriptures, 
will, from the force of that preconception alone, 
be altogether likely to suppose that in the text 
alluded to a separate resurrection for the unjust is 
certainly implied ; yet the language of the text 
does not necessarily imply any such thing. Quite 
as natural an implication, is, that the species of 
resurrection there intended is of the nature of a 
reward, and therefore for the just alone. 

A resurrection or rising, in the Scriptures, is not 
always from a state of literal death. Simeon said 
to the mother of Jesus, " Behold, this child is set 
for the fall and rising again of many in Israel.' 7 1 

i Luke ii. 34. 



THE DOCTRINE OF TWO RESURRECTIONS. 129 

Here the word for " rising again " is anastasis, ren- 
dered " resurrection " in the text mentioning " the 
resurrection of the just. 7 ' 

In the verse preceding the passage containing 
the text under consideration, our Lord says, u He 
who humbleth himself shall be exalted ;" that is, 
shall be raised, or elevated. Now, may it not be 
that the rising or resurrection of the just is the 
same as the exaltation promised by our Lord only 
a few minutes before, and on the same occasion ? x 

Saint Paul, who claims to have received his doc- 
trine " by the revelation of Jesus Christ/ 7 2 men- 
tions expressly u a resurrection of the dead/' as 
we have seen ; and, as we have also seen, he as 
expressly makes this one resurrection to include 
the rising " both of the just and unjust." For this 
reason, if there were no other, I should have to 
understand the Saviour as intending something 
other than a rising to immortality when he speaks 
of the resurrection of the just. 

For a brief yet luminous exposition of the pas- 
sage mentioning " the resurrection of the just " see 
Paige's Commentary on the New Testament, in 
loco. 

In our next chapter, certain passages of Scrip- 
ture will be considered, in which two resurrections 
of some sort are undeniably taught. 

i Luke xiv. 7-14. * Gal. i. 12. 

12 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE DOCTRINE OF TWO RESURRECTIONS. — CONCLUDED. 

There are three texts of Scripture — , one in the 
Old Testament, and two in the New, — in which 
two resurrections, of some sort, are taught in 
direct terms. See Dan. xii. 2 ; John v. 28, 29 ; 
Rev. xx. 4-6. Yet, upon as many as two impor- 
tant points, those texts, if interpreted as referring 
to the immortal state, disagree irreconcilably in 
their testimony ; nor, if thus interpreted, can they, 
by any fair means, be made to even seem to agree, 
that is, upon the points alluded to. The rational 
conclusion therefore is, that the resurrections 
therein taught are not risings into the immortal 
life ; especially, since, with an other interpretation, 
(which will be herein presented), all disagreement 
among the texts entirely disappears. 

It is true that those texts may be separated from 
their connections, quoted but in part, and withal 
considerably garbled; and that, thus treated, they 
may really seem as if certainly teaching the doc- 
trine in question, and this, too, with entire unanim- 
ity. But with fair treatment, no such doctrine 
can be deduced from them, or any one of them. 

The following is a fair — though moderate — 
specimen of the unfair (, not to say, dishonest) 
manner of quotation just alluded to, and quite too 
often met with: 



THE DOCTRINE OF TWO RESURRECTIONS. 131 

In John's gospel, .the Son of God declares that 
u all who are in the graves shall hear His voice, and 
shall come forth ; those who have done good, to 
the resurrection of life ; and those who have done 
evil, to the resurrection of damnation." 

The Revelator, in prophetic vision, saw the 
righteous, that " they lived and reigned with Christ 
a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived 
not again until the thousand years were finished." 
And he adds, " Blessed and holy is he who hath 
part in the first resurrection : on such the second 
death hath no power." 

In Daniel's prophecy we learn that those " who 
sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to 
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting 
contempt." 

In the above style of quotation, the contexts of the 
passages are overlooked entirely ; (a rather common 
proceeding ;) and in each text, a highly important 
member of the sentence is altogether omitted. 
These facts, however, are likely to be unknown to 
the hearer or reader who has never consulted and 
compared the passages as they stand in The Book ; 
and such may honestly suppose that two resurrec- 
tions to immortality, are, by all and each of those 
texts, most certainly and clearly set forth. 

Letting alone, for the present, the less immediate 
contexts of the passages in hand, let us now test the 
effect of quoting the omitted phrases : 

" The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves 

shall hear His voice," &c. 

" I saw the souls of those who were beheaded for the witness 
of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who had not worship- 
ped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark 

upon their foreheads, nor in their hands, and they lived 

and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the 
dead," &c. 



182 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

"At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who 
standeth for the children of thy people : and there shall be a 
time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation 
even to that same time : and at that time thy people shall be 
delivered, every one who shall be found written in the book. 

And many of them who sleep in the dust of the earth 

shall awake," &c. 

We are now prepared to detect at least two 
glaring discrepancies in the testimony of these 
three texts, that is, MSg* on the supposition that 
the texts refer to the immortal state. 

1. In the Gospel, the two resurrections are to 
happen in the same " hour." " The hour is com- 
ing " — says Christ — " in which all who are in the 
graves shall hear/' &c. In the Prophecy likewise, 
a definite " time" is mentioned, " at" which time 
the awaking was to take place, both to the one 
destiny, and to the other. Said the angel to 
Daniel,"^ that time thy people shall be deliver- 
ed," &c. " And many of them who sleep in the 
dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting 
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." 
Yet in the Revelation, the two risings are separated 
by an interval of " a thousand years" " The rest 
of the dead " — , says the Revelator, — lived not 
again until the thousand years were finished." 

How can the above discrepancy be obviated, ex- 
cept by adopting the well-nigh irresistible conclu- 
sion, that at least one of the three texts in mention 
does not refer to the immortal state ? 

If instead of " hour " in the Gospel, and " time" 
in the Prophecy, the prophet, and after him the 
Saviour, had actually employed the word " day," a 
somewhat plausible atttempt to harmonize their 
diurnal with the Revelator's millennial period, might 
— and probaby would — be made, by bringing in, 
and misinterpreting, the text which declares that 
" one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and 



THE DOCTRINE OP TWO RESURRECTIONS. 133 

a thousand years as one day." But, happily, there 
is no text which can be tortured into seeming to 
teach that when the Scriptures predict the occur- 
rence of two future events as being both to hap- 
pen in the same hour, or at the same time, the real 
meaning is that ten whole centuries shall elapse be- 
tween them. 

Note. If one hour is equivalent to one thousand 
years, (as must be the case if John v. 28, 29, and 
Rev. xx. 4-6, are parallel passages, and both of 
them refer to the immortal state,) why is not one 
thousand years equivalent to one hour ? Surely, 
the Revelator's time may as well be compressed 
into the narrow compass of the horary term pointed 
out by the Saviour, as the Saviour's time be ex- 
panded into the rotund area of the millenary cycle 
described by the Revelator. The Millennium, 
then, about which so much is said, and upon which 
so many volumes have been written, may, after all, 
prove but a brief affair — a Reign of sixty 
minutes ! 

2. Being " in the graves," in the Saviour's lan- 
guage, is the same as to " sleep in the dust of the 
earth/ 7 in the phraseology of Daniel. This must 
be the case, if this pair of texts is parallel, whatever 
may be their true reference. Yet on the suppo- 
sition that they refer to the immortal state, these 
texts, though agreeing very well as to time, dis- 
agree very materially as to number ; since the one 
says " all," and the other says " many of them," 
which, of course, is not all of them. According 
to the Saviour, " all who are in the graves " shall 
experience either the one resurrection or the 
other ; but according to Daniel, the most that can 
be said, is, that " many of them " shall ; which ob- 
viously implies that at least a few of them shall 
not. It is certain, then, that 
12* 



184 THE ANASTASXS OF THE DEAD. 

Unless tHe text in Daniel and that in John are 
antagonistic, only one of the two can have refer- 
ence to the immortal state. And if either of these 
does, that in the Eevelation does not ; hence it is 
equally certain , that 

Of those three texts in which alone two resur- 
rections are expressly mentioned, only one can 
refer to the immortal state. 

If, on a fair examination the weight of evidence 
does really go to show that one, or two, or even 
all three, of the texts in hand, really refer to some- 
thing other than the literal resurrection, the fact 
ought by no means to be considered an alarming 
one, much less to be deemed incredible. The 
doctrine of the future life rests not alone, nor 
principally, upon texts couched, as these are, in 
highly figurative language. And, in the Scriptures, 
not only is the word for " resurrection " employed 
in more senses than one, as has been already 
shown ; but various kindred Scriptural terms and 
phrases have a like diversity of signification. 

In the 18th and 33d chapters of Ezekiel, a re- 
formation in moral conduct is set forth as in some 
sort a resurrection ; since it is there declared, 
^gain and again, that if a man practice wickedness 
he shall die, and that if he practice righteousness 
he shall live ; and that then, if he turn from his 
righteousness, and commit iniquity, he shall die ; 
and still, after that, if he will turn from his 
iniquity, and do that which is right, he shall live. 

In Ezekiel 37th chapter, as we have seen, the 
return of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon 
is thus promised : " Behold, my people, I will 

cause you to come up out of your 

graves/' &c. 



THE DOCTRINE OF TWO RESURRECTIONS. 135 

In the New Testament, believers in Christ are 
described 

As having " everlasting life " ; 

As having " eternal life " ; 

As having " passed from death to life " ; 

As being " alive from the dead" ;* 

As " risen with Christ 5" 

As having been " quickened together with Christ " ; 

As having been " raised up together " ; 

As having been made to " sit together in heavenly places, 
in Christ ; " 

And so forth, &c. 

We even find this spirited exhortation addressed to one in 
the flesh, " Awake, thou who sleepest, and arise from the 
dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Yea, the apostle Paul 
professed to be striving more earnestly than for any thing else, 
that he " might attain to the resurrection of the dead." And 
from his immediately adding, " Not as though I had already 
attained, or were already perfect/' &c, it is manifest that what 
he was striving for was a something which he deemed attainable 
in the present mode of being. * 

If but one of the three texts mentioning two 
resurrections, really refers to the hereafter life, 
which one is it ? It having been shown that two 
of them can have no such reference, what is the 
true showing in regard to the third ? 

In order to answer the above questions properly, 
it is necessary to glance at the contexts of the three 
passages alluded to. 

The text in Revelation, making the two resur- 
rections to be a full thousand years apart, is so, 
unlike any other text in the Bible, that supposing 
we, by some means, had clearly ascertained that 
one of the three texts in hand certainly refers to 
the hereafter life, this could hardly be thought to 
be the one. Besides, the context makes the sub- 

* " Alive from the dead." This may import " alive among the 
dead." See Chap. iii. 

1 John vi. 47, 54; 1 John iii. 14: Rom. vi. 13: Coll. iii. 1; Eph. 
ii. 5, 6; v. 14; Phil. ii. 11. 



136 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD. 

jects of " the first resurrection," to have been 
chiefly, if not entirely, the martyrs of the early- 
Christian times. " I saw ? ' — , says John, ■ — " the 
souls of those who were beheaded for the witness 

of Jesus," &c, " and they lived and reigned 

But the rest of the dead lived not again until 
the thousand years were finished. This is the first 
resurrection.'- Verily, the prospect of 19th-cen- 
tury Christians for obtaining this high distinction, 
is small indeed ! But who were those " blessed 
and holy" ones concerning whom it was declared, 
" on such the second death hath no power " ? 
Undeniably those — and those only- — having "part 
in the first resurrection." 

The text in Daniel must now be considered. I 
quote it a second time : 

" And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince 
who standeth for the children of thy people : and there shall 
be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a 
nation even to that same time : and at that time thy people 
shall be delivered, every one who shall be found written in the 
book. And many of them who sleep in the dust of the earth 
shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and 
everlasting contempt." 

Two things in particular are here to be ob- 
served : 

1. The time when those who were sleeping were 
to awake as described, was to be at — or directly 
after — the " time of trouble " mentioned. 2. This 
trouble was to be such that, at the time of its 
occurrence, the like should never have been since 
there was a nation. To which add 3. Our Lord, 
When foretelling the siege and destruction of 
Jerusalem by the Roman armies, declares, cl Then 
shall be great tribulation, [or trouble,] such as was 
not since the beginning of the world to this time, 
no, nor ever shall be.' ;1 

1 Matt. xxiv. 21. 



THE DOCTRINE OF TWO RESURRECTIONS. 137 

Now, as the trouble prophesied of by Daniel was 
to be such as, at the time of its happening, had 
never been, — and as the tribulation or trouble 
foretold by Christ was to be such as had not been, 
nor ever should be thereafter, it is apparent that 
the " time of trouble " predicted by Daniel must 
have been either at or before the time of the Ci great 
tribulation " foretold by Christ, — which is to say, 
the time of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem 
by the Romans. Hence the awaking mentioned by 
Daniel, must have transpired nearly eighteen 
centuries ago. 

If any one of the three texts setting forth two 
resurrections, is to be interpreted as referring to 
the immortal state, that in John's gospel, an- 
nouncing a %i resurrection of life " and a " resur- 
rection of damnation," must, most certainly, be the 
one. Let us carefully compare the text with cer- 
tain portions of the context : 

Verses 25-27. " Verily, Verses^ 28-30. " Marvel 

verily, I say to you, The hour not at this : for the hour is 

is coming, and now is, when coming in which all who are 

the dead shall hear the voice in the graves shall hear His 

of the Son of God: and those voice, and and shall come 

who hear shall live. For as forth ; those who have done 

the Father hath life in him- good, to the resurrection of 

self, so hath he given to the life ; and those who have done 

Son to have life in himself ; evil, to the resurrection of 

and hath given him authority damnation. I can of my own 

to execute judgment also." self do nothing : as I hear, I 

judge : and my judgment is 

just." 

It will be seen at a glance, that the phraseology 
of the passages here set in opposite columns, is to 
a great extent similar. In the Greek, this 
similarity is still more observable ; since the word 
rendered u damnation " in the right-hand passage, 
is the same as is rendered "judgment" at the 



138 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

close of each passage. The import of the two 
passages is not precisely the same — of course 
not — else the latter is superfluous. The subject 
begun in the one is continued and enlarged upon in 
the other. 

The time of the left-hand passage is present, with 
an allusion to the past, and a glance at the then 
future. In it certain facts are announced, with one 
of the resulting events, and an intimation is given 
that these are to ultimate in a series. The time of 
that in the Wg^-hand column is future, with an 
allusion to the then present, and a glance at the 
past. The intimated ultimation is therein described, 
and direct reference is had to the facts and events 
with which the series began. 

" The hour is coming, and now is." This latter 
expression, in the left-hand passage, points out not 
only the time when the dead were hearing His 
voice, but also the place where; and it thus shows, 
unmistakably, that the life after death mentioned 
in these three verses, belongs truly to this mode of 
being, and to the time and place of Christ's per- 
sonal ministry, at that. The immortal life is cer- 
tainly not the subject of the passage in the left- 
hand column. 

Why should it be thought that the texts in the 
right-hand column refer to the immortal life any 
more than do those in the left? Life for the dead, 
as a result of hearing the voice of the Son of God, 
is as plainly taught in the left-hand passage as it is 
in the right ; — why, then, is not the reference of 
the two passages the same ? 

Again. In verse 24, it is said, " He who hear- 
eth my word, and believeth on Him who sent me, 
hath everlasting life, and shall not come [literally, 
' is not come'] into condemnation, but is passed 
from death to life." Here, also, life after death is 



THE DOCTRINE OF TWO RESURRECTIONS. 139 

expressly taught ; yet no one supposes that this 
death and the life after it is to be understood in 
what we call a literal sense. Why, then, in verses 

28, 29 ? 

It is pretty evident, thus, from simply a compari- 
son of the text with its context, that John v. 28, 

29, refers not to the immortal state. To which 
add the facts previously presented in this chapter, 
(not, however, omitting those in the previous 
chapter upon this subject,) and the matter in proof 
seems to • be rendered entirely certain. I claim, 
then, to have proved that 

Those three texts in which alone two resurrec- 
tions are expressly mentioned, do not teach, either 
separately or combinedly, the commonly received 
doctrine of two resurrections. And I deem it to 
be a fact, that 

The common two-resurrection doctrine is not 
taught, either expressly or impliedly, in any part of 
the sacred volume. 

A few hints will now be given as to the true im- 
port of the three noted texts we have been con- 
sidering: 

The " time of trouble 1 ' predicted by Daniel, is 
the same as the time of " great tribulation" fore- 
told by Christ. This appears, not merely from the 
similarity of the language used, but also from the 
staring fact that the language of the context in the 
one is professedly quoted in the context of the 
other. Thus in Daniel, both before and after the 
text alluded to, mention is made by him of " the 
abomination that maketh desolate ; 7? and where our 
Lord foretells the il great tribulation," he refers 
expressly to this, saying, " When ye shall see the 
abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the 
prophet," &c. 1 

TDan. xi. 31; xii. 11; (compare ix. 27;) Matt. xxiv. 15; Mark 
xiii. 14. 



140 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

That the time of trouble and tribulation prophe- 
sied of by Daniel and Christ, was really the time 
of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the 
Bomans, — less than forty years from the utterance 
of the prophecy by our Lord, — appears not only 
from the whole tenor of His discourse, and espe- 
cially from his solemn affirmation, " Verily I say 
to you, This generation shall not pass till all these 
things be fulfilled/' l — but also from alike solemn 
averment made by an angel to Daniel, concerning 
some war-making personage or power, probably 
Roman, that " when he shall have accomplished to 
scatter the power of the holy [or " select 7 '] peo- 
ple, all these things shall be finished." 2 Note. 
The word " holy" is here used in its primitive im- 
port, denoting set apart, or select, or chosen. 
" The holy people" is thus the same as Daniel's 
people, or God's " chosen" people, that is, the na- 
tion of the Jews." 3 

The texts in hand from Daniel and John, with a 
considerable portion of their contexts, seem to refer 
to the same events. As I interpret the texts, 
" many," in Daniel, is fully equal to " all," in John. 

The phrase, " many of them who sleep," though 
usually construed as equivalent to "many of those 
who sleep," has, obviously, not that particular 
meaning. The pronoun "them" stands for "thy 
people," in the verse previous ; and a comma seems 
to be called for between " them " and " who," — 
the sense evidently being, "and many of thy peo- 
ple, the ones who sleep in the dust of the earth, 
shall awake," &c.,— which is equivalent to saying 
that all shall awake who shall be at that time 
asleep. In like manner, it is a sheer assumption 
that all mankind were intended when the Saviour 

1 Matt. xxiv. 34. (Compare Mark xiii. 30.) 

2 Dan. xii. 7. 3 Isaiah xl. 8, 9; xliy. 1, 2; et al. 



THE DOCTRINE OF TWO RESURRECTIONS. 141 

said that " all " in the graves should hear his voice. 
Not all the literally dead are literally buried. The 
word " all/ 7 in this place, embraces in its meaning 
only just so many as, at the time mentioned, should 
be " in the graves,* 7 in the sense intended ; that 
is, as is shown by the context, just so many as 
should at that time be dead ; but dead in a different 
sense from that of bodily demise. 

Some of the dead, at the time of the utterance of 
the text in John, were hearing the voice of Christ 
in a spiritual sense ; and all who thus heard, lived 
— had everlasting or spiritual life. In relation to 
such is the Saviour 7 s declaration, that they had 
not — and, by implication, should not — "come 
into condemnation", damnation, or judgment. In 
relation to all others (of that nation) the opposite 
was true — "to the resurrection of damnation", 
condemnation, or judgment, they should most cer- 
tainly come. Within that generation, all whom the 
gospel should fail of awaking to life, would be 
awaked by the judgments of God ; — from the 
afflictive operation of which judgments the faith- 
ful Christians were to be exempt. Thus an angel 
says to Daniel, " And at that time 77 — , the unex- 
ampled time of trouble he had just mentioned, — 
" thy people shall be delivered, every one who shall 
be found w T ritten in the book. 77 

It is also said in Daniel, " None of the wicked 
shall understand, but the wise shall understand." 1 
The righteous and the wise, then, are, in this text, 
the same. In accordance with this, the Saviour 
says, "those who have done good, to the resur- 
rection of life.' 7 That is, the righteous, or the 
wise, who should understand, and believe, and 
obey, the gospel, and so be in the possession and 

1 Dan. xii. 10. 

13 



142 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

enjoyment of everlasting, eternal, or spiritual life, 
should come forth out of the low, degraded, 
miserable condition of the nation at large ; and 
should enjoy an immunity from the " great tribula- 
tion " which was soon to come upon the rejectors 
of Christ. On the other hand, he says, " those 
who have done evil, to the resurrection of damna- 
tion." That is, the wicked, or the unwise, who 
shall not understand, and believe, and obey, " the 
glorious gospel of Christ," shall come forth to 
judgment and . condemnation — shall awake to 
shame and ever- [or age-] lasting contempt, in a 
series of unparalleled sufferings from famine, 
pestilence, and deadly warfare, — and in being dis- 
persed for ages among the nations of the earth, 
their name a by-word and a term of reproach 
throughout the civilized world. (See Deut. 
xxviii. 37, 64 ; Jer. xxiii. 40.) 

In regard to the true import of the passage from 
Eevelation, — xx. 4-6, et seq., — I beg leave to 
refer the reader to Whittemore's Commentary on 
the Revelation, in loco. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE LAST JUDGMENT. 

Another doctrine very generally received in the 
Christian church, and which I consider very great- 
ly erroneous, is, that the resurrection of the dead 
is to be attended with a train of proceedings usu- 
ally denominated " the last judgment/' or the 
u general judgment." 

One chief circumstance relating to the resurrec- 
tion, is commonly believed to be this, that by 
means of it, all our race, from Adam to the last of 
his posterity, are to be gathered into one assem- 
blage, for the purpose of being individually and 
severally adjudged either to happiness or to misery. 
It is even supposed by some, that the following 
text of traditional Scripture, put into the mouth of 
the archangel, or at least made to issue from the 
mouth of his trumpet, belongs to the genuine 
written word : " Arise, ye dead ! and come to 
judgment." 

I propose to present certain Scriptural facts 
which evince, to my mind, that the doctrine in 
mention is not really a part of Christianity. Not 
that I, by any means, deny, or even call in ques- 
tion, the fact of man's accountability to God. I 
hold, most ^ sincerely, that He will "bring every 
work into judgment," and u render to every man 
according to his deeds." 1 Yet the common doc 

1 Eccl. xii. 14; Rom. ii. 6. 



144 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

• 

trine on this subject, I cannot receive. Facts go 
against it. 

1. In the parable of the sheep and the goats, — 
so called, — wherein is given by far the most ex- 
tended account which the Bible contains of what 
is commonly taken to be the last, or the general 
judgment, — so called, — it is not once said, nor is 
such a thing ever intimated, that the adjudication 
there described is to be attendant on the resurrec- 
tion. On the contrary, the time of the judgment 
is set forth to be at the occurrence of quite another 
event, — the coming of the Son of man in his 
glory, — concerning which event he had just in- 
structed his disciples that it, with certain other 
events, should happen " immediately after the 
tribulation" which he had been describing, and of 
which mention was made in our last chapter. 
The parable above alluded to, commences thus : 

" When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the 
holy angels with him, then," &c. Matt. xxv. 31. 

Concerning this coming of our Lord, he had 
himself, in the same discourse, not only announced, 
as I have already said, that it should be in close 
proximity to the " tribulation 7 ' he had mentioned, 
but He had also expressly declared that it should 
happen in that " generation :" 

" Immediately after [or immediately upon,] the tribulation 

of those days shall the sun be darkened, and then 

shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then 
shall all the tribes of the earth [ — rightly, " of the land — ] 
mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds 

of heaven with power and great glory Verily I say unto 

you, This generation shall not pass till all these things [, which 
is to say, these predictions,] be fulfilled/' Matt. xxiv. 29 — 35. 

To the same purport are other passages : 

" When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: 
for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities 
of Israel till the Son of man be come. Matt. x. 23. 



THE LAST JUDGMENT. 145 

" For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, 
with his angels ; and then shall he reward every man according 
to his works. Verily I say unto you, There are some standing 
here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man 
coming in his kingdom." Matt. xvi. 27, 28. 

2. In the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians, which 
chapter, as has been before observed, is a profess- 
ed dissertation on the subject of the resurrection, 
the idea is not once even hinted at, that the rising 
of the dead is to be accompanied or followed by a 
judgment, in the commonly received sense of that 
expression. And such omission is the more 
significant from the circumstance that the apostle's 
range of thought in this chapter, certainly em- 
braces the time when such a judgment must 
occur, if ever. 

It should be observed here, that, over and 
above our Lord's introduction into this mode of 
being, there are mentioned in the New Testament 
two distinct comings of Christ, differing consider- 
ably in character, and widely distant from each 
other in time. The former, of a non-personal 
nature, was to happen at the close of the Jewish 
age or dispensation, about forty years from the time 
when He entered upon his public ministry ; the 
latter, personal, was — and is — to transpire at the 
close of the Christian age, or, as Paul would ex- 
press it, at " the end" of Christ's reign. In con- 
nection with the former of these comings, a judg- 
ment is usually mentioned, but never a resurrec- 
tion, that is, to immortality ; — in connection with 
the latter, the resurrection is usually mentioned, 
but never a judgment, nor indeed any thing 
equivalent to what is commonly understood by 
that term. 

The passages in John v. and Rev. xx. which 
speak of two resurrections, have indeed a judg- 

13* 



146 1 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

ment connected with them ; but having seen, in 
the chapter next preceding this, that neither of 
these resurrections is a rising to immortality, we 
must now see, of course, that the judgment men- 
tioned in John and described in Revelation, belongs 
altogether to this mortal state. 1 See the close of 
our next chapter. 

3. In all the Scriptures, if I am not mistaken, 
the resurrection and the judgment are not, in even 
a single instance, described as accompanying 
events. There is one text, however, which, owing 
to preconceived opinions, may naturally enough be 
thought to teach the contrary of this : 

" He who rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath 
one that [, or that which] judgeth him : the word which I have 
spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 
xii. 48. 

By assuming that " the last day " is a time when 
all our race shall be at once immortalized, the above 
text seems to teach the common day-of-judgment 
doctrine as plainly as can be. But if by the last 
day, as mentioned in this text, we understand the 
close of the Jewish age, — at which time, as we 
have seen, a judgment truly did occur, — the 
whole aspect of the text is at once changed. And 
certainly, on the day of Pentecost, the Apostle 
Peter taught expressly that the then present time 
was included in " the last days/' declaring, in re- 
ference to the gift of languages, " This is that 
which was spoken by the prophet Joel, And it 
shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, that 
I will pour out of my Spirit,' 7 &c. In an other 
place, the affirmation is, " God .... hath in these 
last days spoken to us by His Son." 2 

" In the last days," and " In the last day," are 
indeed somewhat different expressions, " days 9i 

1 John v. 21-30; Rev. xx. 11-15. * Acts ii. 16, 17; Heb. i. 1, 2. 



THE LAST JUDGMENT. 147 

being plural, and " day " being singular. Of 
course, there is a shade of difference in their im- 
port. The former comprehends a considerable 
space of time near the close of that age ; the latter 
a brief period at its close. Jesus appeared near 
the close of the Jewish age, or in the last days of 
it, and spoke the word which at the close of that 
age, or in the last day of it, was to judge or con- 
demn those who rejected him. (See Chap, xx.) 

There is one passage where resurrection and judg- 
ment are actually placed together — not, however, 
as accompanying events, but as separate items of 
Christian doctrine : 

" Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go 
on to perfection ; not laying again the foundation of repen- 
tance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doc- 
trine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrec- 
tion of the dead, and of eternal judgment." Heb. vi. 1, 2. 

The fact that resurrection and judgment are 
mentioned together in the above-cited passage, no 
more proves that mankind are to be judged on ris- 
ing, than the mention of those other u principles " 
in connection with the resurrection, proves that, 
on that occasion, men will repent, and believe, and 
be baptized. 

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews being 
manifestly a man of sense, the phrase " eternal 
judgment " is manifestly a mistranslation. No in- 
telligent writer would put forth such an expression 
as his own. The word eternal signifies " without 
beginning or end ; " — how, then, can it be under- 
standing^ applied to judgment, even though taken 
— , as it sometimes now is, — in but the latter half 
of its signification ? 

The noun from which the word here rendered 
" eternal " is derived, signifies, primarily, " age ; " 
and, of course, the primary sense of the adjective 



148 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

would naturally be " pertaining to an age/' or " to 
the age ; " in a word, agical, if such a word there 
were. And this I take to be its meaning in the 
text above cited. See Chapter vi. 

The particular judgment which the apostle had 
in his mind when penning the passage in hand, I 
deem to be that which was to happen at the close 
of the Jewish age, when Jesus should come in his 
kingdom and glory. Concerning this coming of 
Christ, it is declared in this very Epistle, " Yet a 
little while, and He who shall come will come, and 
will not tarry." 1 

The Epistle to the Hebrews, that is, to the Jew- 
ish Christians, — so to call them, — is believed to 
have been written but " a little while 9} — , six or 
eight years at farthest, — before the destruction of 
Jerusalem. The like may be said of the Epistle of 
James, in which we are assured that " the coming 
of the Lord draweth nigh. ? ' And in view of its 
near approach, he presently adds, (which shows 
incontestibly that Christ's then impendent coming 
was really for judgment,) " Behold the Judge 
standeth before the door." 2 

Note. James also seems to be writing to Jewish 
converts ; for the persons addressed by him he 
styles " the twelve tribes scattered abroad." 

There is one passage more which, in the absence 
of stronger proof, is not unfrequently adduced to 
show that judgment is not executed at all in this 
world, but is all future, and is to accompany the 
resurrection : 

" He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world 
in righteousness, by that man whom He hath ordained, where- 
of He hath given assurance to all men, in that He hath raised 
him from the dead." Acts xvii. 31. 

We are sometimes gravely told that, in this text, 
1 Heb. x. 37. * James v. 7-9. 



THE LAST JUDGMENT. 149 

the judgment of the world is undeniably connected 
with the resurrection. Connected with a resur- 
rection it indeed is — but how? Why, the fact 
that God raised Christ, gives assurance to all that 
by Him God will judge the world. When will He 
do this ? . In that day which He hath appointed. 
But does the text even intimate that the day men- 
tioned is a mere diurnal reach of time, to occur 
after an unknown number of centuries, in which 
brief period — , when it shall arrive, — the whole 
work of judgment is to be accomplished ? Not it, 
nor anything like it. And the direct contrary had 
been taught by Him to whom is committed the 
work of judgment. "Now" — , said He, (which 
evinces that the work was even then in progress,) 
— now u is the judgment of this world." 1 

The beloved disciple testifies that " the Father 
sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." 

And Jesus himself says, " I came to save 

the world." 2 But it is also an undeniable fact that 
the world is not yet saved ; and hence the conclu- 
sion is quite inevitable that the salvation of the 
world is future. It by no means follows from this, 
however, that the work of salvation is not yet 
even begun ; for, over and above the experience 
of every true Christian, Saint Paul has said, il Be- 
hold now is the day of salvation/' s And Christian 
teachers, for at least several centuries, have each 
applied this text to his own times 5 and no one 
doubts, even now, that " now " is the day of sal- 
vation, the work being in progress. In like man- 
ner, God has appointed a day in which He will 
judge the world by Jesus Christ ; and yet it was 
true eighteen hundred years ago, and is still as 
true as ever, that " now " is the judgment of this 
world, the process being constantly going on. 

l John xii. 31. 3 1 John iv. 14; John xii. 47. s 2 Cor. yi. 2, 



150 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

The whole is made up of its parts. The ap 
pointed judgment day includes numerous special 
days, hours, or seasons, of judgment. The follow- 
ing text testifies the presence of one such season 
during the gospel day, and seemingly soon after its 
commencement : 

" I saw an other angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the 
everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, 
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, say- 
ing with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, for 
the hour of his judgment is come," Rev. xiv. 6.7. (Compare 
Matt. xxiv. 14, 31.) 

The close of the Jewish age or dispensation was 
denominated the last day or time, as we have seen ; 
and at that period Christ was to come, that is, in 
his kingdom and glory; and his coming at that 
time was to be attended with a judgment ; and so 
this last day or last time was actually a day of 
judgment to the Jews as a nation. And thus in 
other instances. Any day or time in which judg- 
ment is rendered, is clearly a day or time of judg- 
ment to the party judged, whether such party is a 
nation, a city, or an individual. And further, all 
such days, hours, or times, of special judgment, 
are included, of course, in that comprehensive day 
which God has appointed, namely, the entire term 
of Christ's reign. 

The writer sincerly hopes that these general re- 
marks may prove somewhat useful, not only in 
illustration of the Scriptures already cited, but as 
leading to a correct understanding of those texts 
— , to be considered in our next chapter, — in which 
occurs the expression, " the day of judgment." It 
is believed by him, that those texts refer to the 
punishment of the Jews as a nation, or else to 
some other judgment special to the party judged. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE LAST JUDGMENT — CONCLUDED. 

The phrase, " the day of judgment," occurs in 
the New Testament eight times. In the Septuagint, 
or Greek translation of the Old Testament, the 
expression for day of judgment occurs once ; 
though in the Common Version, the original of 
that place is rendered " the day of vengeance." 1 
In certain passages in the New Testament, parallel 
to those in which the expression day of judgment 
is found, the phrases " the judgment " and " that 
day n occur, evidently in the same sense as day of 
judgment, whatever that sense may be. It is pro- 
per to be known also, that, except in one instance, 
to be noticed presently, the Greek rendered " the 
day of judgment," is not literally " the," but " a 
day of judgment." The word for " the " is want- 
ing also in the Greek of a phrase in Jude rendered 
" the judgment of the great day." 

Those texts in the New Testament containing 
the expression " the day of judgment " are the 
following : 

I. John, in his First Epistle, speaks of himself 
and his brethren as having " boldness in the day 
of judgment," which day he evidently viewed to 
be near. Thus he says : 

" Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard 
that antichrist shall come, even now are their many antichrists j 

1 Prov. vi. 34. 



152 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD. 

whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from 
us, but they were not of us." 1 John ii. 18, 19. 

" And now little children, abide in Him ; that when he shall 
appear, [literally, " shall be manifested/'] we may have confi- 
dence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming." Chap. 
ii. 28. 

" Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have bold- 
ness in the day of judgment ; because as He is, so are we in this 
world." Chap. iv. 17. 

The above last-cited text is the only one in which 
the original has the article — , so called, — prefixed 
to day of judgment. In it, the beloved disciple 
seems certainly to be speaking of the day or time 
of judgment then impending, or, as it were, on the 
very eve of occurring, in reference to the unbe- 
lieving Jews and apostate Jewish converts, — at 
which crisis* Christ was to come, or be manifested 
in power and glory, and the judgments of God be 
executed upon the Jews as a nation. 

N. B. It is thought that this Epistle was written 
even later than the Epistle to the Hebrews ; and 
of course, only a very " little while " — , some think 
only a year or two, — before the fall of Jerusalem. 

II. In one place, the Saviour seems to be laying 
down a general proposition in regard to human 
accountability ; (as indeed he may be ;) yet it is 
obvious that His affirmation in the text alluded to 
and to be presently quoted, was called forth by the 
blasphemous language of the Scribes and Pharisees. 
Note. These had just been attributing his miracles 
to the agency of Beelzebub, the supposed Prince 
of demons. Hence He says to them : 

* " Crisis." In the phrase " day of judgment," the Greek for 
judgment is the word from which comes the Latin and English 
word '•'crisis." (See Crisis in Webster's Dictionary.) The Greek 
word has various significations in the New Testament, — among which 
are crisis and judgment; — the latter in the sense of a judicial ver- 
dict, whether of acquittal, or of condemnation ; also, in the sense of 
punishment, or the due execution of a condemnatory verdict or 
sentence. (See Chap. 6. j 



THE LAST JUDGMENT. 153 

" O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good 

things ? But I say to you, That every idle word which 

men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the [, right- 
ly "in a"] day of judgment." Matt. xii. 34-36. 

Christ's doctrine in this text seems to be, that 
God, in His government of the world, holds men 
accountable not only for actions, but also for 
words, yea, even for verbal trifling ; — how much 
more, then, for downright and impudent blas- 
phemy ! 

III. The apostle Peter speaks of the or a day of 
judgment in two texts ; and it is a noteworthy 
fact, — though probably seldom noted, — that day 
of judgment, in his use of the expression, is 
equivalent to day of punishment or retribution. 
Thus, in the first text, he says : 

" The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of tempta- 
tions, [rather, " out of trial,"] and to reserve the unjust to tlie 
day of judgment to be punished." Rightly, "'to a day" &c. 2 
Pet. 11. 9. 

Observe, here, that Peter does not say, to a day 
of judgment to be judged, condemned, or 
sentenced; but, "to a day of judgment to be 
punished" And by examining the context, it 
w r ill be seen that ihe text is but the conclusion of 
a paragraph in which are given several examples 
of punishment and deliverance. It is clear, then, 
that the punishing, and the delivering, taught in 
the text, are to be understood in the light of those 
examples ; and his preceding remarks seem clearly 
to show that the approaching national punishment 
of the Jews and false Christians, and the deliver- 
ance therefrom of all true Christians, is really 
the subject in hand. He reminds the brethren 
that God burned Sodom, and delivered Lot; that 
He drowned the old world, and saved Noah, &c. ; 
and from these examples he draws the very 
14 



154 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

natural conclusion, that "The Lord knoweth/V&q,, 
as in the text. And mentioning certain " false 
teachers n and their followers, he declares of them, 
that their "judgment now of a long time lingereth 
not, and their damnation slumbereth not/' 1 — 
forms of expression which seem very far from in- 
dicating that the time of the judgment of those 
persons has not yet arrived. 

In the second text where Peter speaks of a 
"day of judgment/' he subjoins — , without the 
intervention of even a comma, — "and perdition 
of ungodly men' 7 , 2 — thus plainly teaching that 
the day mentioned was as much a day of perdition 
or destruction as it was of judgment. 

In the highly figurative style of the ancient 
prophets, the apostle sets forth that " the world " 
in the time of the deluge, " being overflowed with 
water, perished" ; that "the heavens and the 
earth " existing in his day were " reserved to fire 
against a day of judgment and perdition ;" and 
that the heavens would be u dissolved," and the 
earth be " burned up." And whatever the exact 
nature of the catastrophe was which he had in his 
mind, he evidently viewed it to be close at hand ; 
for he tells of " looking for and hasting to the 
coming of the day of God, wherein " the events 
mentioned were to occur. 

IV. In reference to the fate of certain cities in a 
day of judgment, Jesus speaks in the following 
passages thus : 

Matt. x. 5-23. " These twelve [, . his apostles,] Jesus sent 

forth, and commanded them, saying, Go to the lost 

sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach 

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, 
when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of 
your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for 

I * Pet. ii. 1-3. 2 2 Pet. iii. 7. 



THE LAST JUDGMENT. 155 

the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the [rightly, " in a] day 
of judgment, than for that city. 

(Mark xi. 20-24. The same, in brief, is found here as in the 
above ; but that part of the passage containing the phrase " the 
day of judgment" is reckoned an interpolation.) 

Matt. xi. 20-24. " Then began He to upbraid the cities 
wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they 
repented not : Woe to thee, Chorazin ! Woe to thee, Beth- 
saida ! for if the mighty works which were done in you, had 
been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long 
ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, It shall be more 
tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the [, rightly, "in a,"] day of 
judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art ex- 
alted fto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell : [that is, to a 
condition as low, comparatively, as thy present condition is 
high :] for if the mighty works which have been done in thee, 
had been done in Sod>om, it would have remained until this 
day. But I say to you, That it shall be more tolerable for the 
land of Sodom in the [rightly, "in a""] day of judgment than 
for thee." 

Although no allusion is made to the resurrection 
in any Scripture text which mentions a day of 
judgment, it must be confessed that, at first view, 
the above texts seem to imply that the day of 
the judgment of some persons, is, or at least was, 
after their deaths, — and, in the case of certain per- 
sons, a great while after. Thus, to present the 
case in the aspect most favorable to such a con- 
clusion, the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah 
had long ceased to exist in this world ; and yet the 
Saviour, speaking of those cities in connection 
with a judgment, indisputably made use of the 
future tense ; affirming, in substance, " It shall be 
more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in a day 
of judgment, than for those cities of Judea who 
shall refuse to receive my disciples, and to listen 
to their words." The like is declared of Caper- 
naum, and of other cities, because they repented 
not, after having witnessed His mighty works. 
But now, several circumstances demand attention : 

1. The cities which the Saviour " upbraids/' he 



156 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

seems to address in their corporate capacity, as in- 
dividual cities, saying, " Thou, Capernaum/' " Woe 
to thee, Chorazin !" &c. This form of address 
most naturally conveys the idea that temporal 
destruction was the kind of punishment He viewed 
as awaiting each of them. 

2. In speaking of the future fate of the Jewish 
cities adverted to, He compares it with the fate — 
not of the people, but — of the land of Sodom and 
Gomorrah. This form of expression is unmis- 
takably indicative of temporal destruction. 

3. He avers of Sodom, that it would have re- 
mained until that time, had the mighty works been 
done in it which had lately been done in Caper- 
naum. This is an indisputable allusion to the tem- 
poral fate of the city of Sodom; — but why this, 
unless the temporal fate of Capernaum was in His 
mind? 

4. In a passage from Luke, parallel to the two 
from Matthew, instead of " day of judgment," the 
expressions u that day" and "the judgment" 
occur: " It shall be more tolerable in that day for 
Sodom, than for that city." " Woe to thee, 

Chorazin ! Woe to thee, Bethsaida ! it shall 

be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at [or " in"] 
the judgment, than for you." 

5. The only argument of any force which the 
texts in hand furnish in favor of the common 
doctrine, arises from the presence of the future 
tense in the Saviour's declaration, " It shall be 
more tolerable " &c. Were it not for this, there 
could be no doubt that the comparison, as to 
tolerableness, is between the temporal fate of the 
Jewish cities named or adverted to, and the tem- 
poral fate of the other cities named. 

6. Under the pressure of the above-named cir- 
cumstances, some commentators, believers in the 



THE LAST JUDGMENT. 157 

common doctrine as to a judgment, have been con- 
strained to admit, despite their prejudices, that 
the future judgment of the people of Sodom and 
the other cities mentioned, is not shown by the use 
of the future tense in the texts under examina- 
tion. * 

The author of this work is decidedly of the 
opinion that the affirmation of the Saviour, in those 
texts, " It shall be more tolerable/' &c, is an 
elliptical form of speech ; and that in order to ex- 
press the true sense, unambiguously, in any language 
(excepting possibly the Jewish vernacular,) the 
ellipsis must be filled by some phrase in the past 
tense, so that the whole shall naturally convey the 
idea that the recorded destruction of Sodom, &c, 
when compared with what was to befall the Jewish 
cities referred to, will plainly appear the " more 
tolerable " of the two. As if our Lord had actual- 
ly said, "It shall be — seen to have been — more 
tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, in 
a day of judgment, [or punishment,] than for " the 
Jewish cities named and adverted to. And so of 
the others. '" 

There is one text which, incidentally, does 
actually teach a judgment of some sort " after " a 
death in some sense ; but it is certain that the sub- 
ject to which it relates is entirely foreign to the 
doctrine under consideration. As commonly 
brought forward in proof of that doctrine, only a 
part of the sentence is quoted, and that not in 
full ; and as to the context, no notice whatever is 
taken of it : 

* See Paige's " Selections from Eminent Commentators," Sec- 
tions 1, 16, 20, where quotations are given from Hammond, Pearce, 
Wakefield, Adam Clarke, and others. It is manifest, however , that 
though some rays of truth on this subject had penetrated the minds 
of those " eminent" men, their ideas were yet not a little confused. 

14* 



158 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

" And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this 
the judgment : so Christ was once offered to bear the sins 
of many, and to those who look for him shall He appear the 
second time without sin [, or " without a sin-offering",'] to 
salvation." Heb. ix. 27, 28. (Literally, " appointed to the 
men " ; " after this a judgment " \ " the sins of the many " ; 
" appear a second time.") 

As is the one half of this sentence, so most 
certainly must be the other half ; the latter being 
the counterpart of the former, which fact is 
evinced by the presence of the corresponding 
comparative conjunctions, "as — so." Without 
any particular knowledge of the context, we 
might be perfectly sure, that as Christ's be- 
ing u once offered to bear the sins of the many" 
was a sort of sacrificial death, — so the dying of 
" the men once ", with which the death of Christ 
is compared, must be of a sacrifical character also. 
We might be certain, too, that as Christ's u second" 
or after appearing was to be " to salvation", — so 
the " judgment" that was to follow the mens' 
dying must be a verdict in favor of those interest- 
ed. And we might know, further, that as Christ's 
being " once offered " was by Divine appointment, 
— so the Power that " appointed " the men to die 
once must be no other than God. But in order to 
determine, with the same certainty, who were in- 
tended by " the men " ; in what sense they were 
" to die " ; what is meant by their being appointed 
to die "once"; how " a judgment" or favorable 
verdict would come " after this ;" who were par- 
ticularly interested in that verdict, and so corres- 
pond to " the many " for whom Christ was offer- 
ed ; and so of the rest ; — we doubtless should be 
obliged to consult the context; which, happily, 
when taken along with what we know of the 
Levitical regulations, renders the reference of the 
text perfectly clear. 



THE LAST JUDGMENT. 159 

The context, in the instance just mentioned, 
comprises several chapters. From an attentive 
perusal of these, may be gathered the following 
particulars : 

1. " The men " mentioned in the text, are the 
Jewish high-priests, — compared and contrasted 
with " The Apostle and High-priest of our pro- 
fession, Christ Jesus. 7 ' 1 

2. They are spoken of in the plural, as u men" 
because, as the apostle here says, " they truly w r ere 
many priests," for the reason that, being mortal, 
one died, and an other succeeded him, — w 7 hile 
Christ, having " an endless life/' can not vacate 
the office by death, and so has a priestship which 
is " unchangeable," or passes not to a successor, 
He being the sole and perpetual High-Priest of the 
Christian age. 2 

3. Those men being appointed u to die ", means 
being appointed to do so by proxy, in their 
sacrifices, or, as the apostle expresses it, to enter 
" into the Holy-Place every year with blood of 
others" that is, of the animals sacrificed, — while 
Christ, "by His own blood", or, as is also said, 
u by the sacrifice of Himself" " entered in once 
into The Holy-Place ", not, however, into one 
" made with hands," " but into heaven itself. 7 ' 3 

\ 4. By their being appointed to die " once" is 
meant the same as in the preceding and succeed- 
ing expressions, "once every year," "year by 
year," &c, that is, on the day of atonement, — as 
set against Christ's being offered " once," which, 
in like manner, is explained to mean not " often, 
as the high-priest entereth into the holy-place 
every year," but " once for all," which is to say, 
once and no more. 4 

* Heb. vii. 28; iii. 1. 2 He b. yii. 16, 23, 24. 

3 Heb. ix. 11, 12, 24, 25, 26. 4 Heb, ix, 7, 25; x. 1, 10. 



160 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

5. The " judgment" or verdict following the 
sacrificial death of each high priest, was the as- 
surance given to " the people" of Israel, by the 
reappearance of such high-priest, or his safe return 
out from the Holy of Holies, that " the errors of 
the people," for the year then ended, were 
forgiven, — as compared with certain facts relating 
to Christ, who is (or was) to " appear a second 
time" &c. l 

In a certain sense, judgment after the death of 
the body may be regarded as a Scripture doctrine. 
To judge sometimes signifies to rule. The first 
rulers of Israel were called judges. Jesus Christ 
rules, that is, exercises dominion over, both dead 
and living ; or, as the Common Version has it, He 
is "Lord both of the dead and living.' 72 

In Rev. 20th, a judgment of " the dead" is 
described, as was remarked in our last chapter ; 
yet, from the metaphorical character of t&e 
language employed, it is evident that the subjects 
of that judgment were dead in some other than a 
physical sense. Thus it is said : 

" And I saw a great white throne, and Him who sat on it, 
from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away ; and there 

was found no place for them And the sea gave up the 

dead which were in it ; and death and hell delivered up the 
dead which were in them ; and they were judged," &c. Rev. 
xx. 11-13. 

The sea might give up dead bodies, that is, the 
bodies of those recently drowned therein, also, 
those bodies recently committed thereto ; but 
surely, it is persons, not their cast-off bodies, who 
are proper subjects of judgment. We are not told 
that the earth yielded up her dead; which, per- 
haps, may be accounted for by supposing that this 
" terrestrial ball" had. " fled away" to " no place" 

1 Heb, ix. 7; Ex. xxx. 10; Lev. xvi. 2-34. 2 Rom. xiv. 9. 



THE LAST JUDGMENT. 161 

before the proceedings commenced. Death is 
obviously not a place or space at all, nor has it, 
literally, any capaciousness whatever ; yet the 
dead which were in it were duly delivered up. 
Hell, also, delivered up its dead ; but heaven, or 
" the heaven/' surrendered none of its inhabitants, 
whether it had " fled away" previously, or had 
not. The whole scene is thus manifestly figura- 
tive. See Whittemore on the Revelation. 

For the proper import of the word rendered 
u hell" in the above passage, see Chapter iii. of 
this work. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 

It has been believed by a very great majority 
of the Christian church for more than a thousand 
years, that, after the resurrection, if not before it, 
many, very many, of mankind are each to be sub- 
jected to an amount and degree of penal suffering, 
compared with which the greatest and most se- 
vere tortures ever inflicted by the cruelest of 
human monsters, are but as a drop to the ocean, 
or as the tiniest spark to Nebuchadnezzar's furnace 
in fullest blast. 

It is believed also, that these unparalleled and 
seemingly insupportable torments are to be ever 
and ever increasing — that through long, long 
days, and weeks, and months, and years, of direful 
agony, . the tardy moments, as they successively 
arrive, will each be fraught with fresh and fiercer 
pains. 

It is further believed — , and this is the chief idea 
directly presented by this doctrine, — that these 
torments of the wicked, beyond the resurrection, 
are to be positively endless with each individual ; 
— not merely that such torments are to be inflict- 
ed without intermission, and endured without 
alleviation, through accumulated and accumulating 
years, and centuries, and ages, and ages-of-ages, 
and these last multiplied ad indefinitum\ — but 



ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 163 

that the torments of the wicked are absolutely to 
continue ad cetemum, or to duration without end. 

It is also very generally held in regard to those 
torments, that the resurrection will greatly enhance 
them ; and it is taught by some that the very ex- 
istence of such torments depends upon the resur- 
rection; they holding that without it there is 
neither happiness nor misery. The wicked are to 
be raised that they may be judged ; and the judg- 
ment eventuates in their being sentenced to endless 
suffering. It is thus entirely apparent that the doc- 
trine claims an intimate relation to our general sub- 
ject, and is therefore entitled to a share of our 
attention in the present w T ork. 

The doctrine of endless punishment is in a 
manner venerable on account of its age ; and it 
has long been highly popular from the great num- 
ber of its advocates and votaries ; yet it is objected 
to as being unreasonable, unphilosophical, and espe- 
cially unscriptural. Thus, 

I. The doctrine of endless punishment ascribes 
to the " living " or really existing God, — 
possessing the attributes of power, wisdom, 
and goodness, — a proceeding, toward some of 
His creatures, exactly in accordance with the 
character of an imaginary god, possessing the 
attributes of power, wisdom, and badness. 

The above may be a startling proposition, to 
some ; yet its truth can be easily shown : 

The causing of an individual to be as miserable 
as is possible in the nature of things, and the pro- 
tracting of that misery to the longest possible ex- 
tent, (endless punishment as commonly taught,) is 
actually doing to that individual the very worst that 
could be done by an infinitely evil-disposed Being, 
with ability and contrivance equal to his male- 
volence. Yet, according to the doctrine under 



164 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

examination, "the Lord God, merciful," who is 
declaredly " good to all," will, in millions of 
instances, do just those things. 1 

The argument from the foregoing premises is, 
that it is absurd to suppose that a good being, 
fcther things being equal, will do just what a bad 
being naturally would. " A good tree v — , says 
the Saviour, — can not bring forth evil fruit. 772 The 
conclusion hence is, that the infliction of an end- 
less punishment is inconsistent with the character 
of God ; and that, therefore, the doctrine is un- 
true. 

It has indeed been claimed that this kind of 
argumentation is fallacious, for that if it had been 
employed in the beginning, it would have proved 
just as clearly the erroneous proposition, that God 
being good, misery could never be experienced 
under His government. No such thing, however, 
could have been thus proved, — it being a fact that 
the argument from God's goodness has reference 
only to final results. 

It is true, without doubt, as the Saviour sets 
forth, that a good tree can not yield evil fruit ; and 
it is true, in like manner, as he also sets forth, that 
" the tree is known by its fruit." 3 But in the use 
and application of these proverbial sayings, KgT it 
is always supposed that the fruit of the tree is 
ripe. 

Take, for example, the plum. Suppose that a 
specimen of this fruit, full-grown, though altogether 
unripe, is eaten by a person wholly ignorant of a 
future ripening. Ill-tasted as he finds it, he can 
not do otherwise than consider the tree it grew on 
to be, as a fruit-tree, bad. And if assured of the 

I 1 Ex. xxxiv. 6; Ps. cxlv. 9. 2 Matt. yii. 18. 

s Matt. xii. 33 



ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 165 

tree's goodness, he will, of course, conclude that, 
in at least one instance, the proverbs adverted to 
have proved false. Yet every one else would 
know his conclusion to be erroneous, knowing that, 
in a few days, the fruit being rijpe, would possess 
altogether different qualities ; and thus the truth 
of those proverbial sayings be clearly and abun- 
dantly manifested. 

So in respect to the existence of suffering under 
the government of an all-benevolent God, Suffer- 
ing, in general, may be regarded as punishment, 
chastisement, or chastening, inflicted in conse- 
quence of transgression of some law of God, 
spiritual, moral, mental, or physical. Of such 
chastisement the apostle assures us " all are par- 
takers. " And though it is grievously true, as the 
apostle reminds his brethren, that " no chastening 
for the present seemeth to be jo} T ous, but grievous,'' 
an other thing is joyfully true, as the apostle im- 
mediately adds, that " afterward it yieldeth the 
peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are 
exercised thereby." x 

It evidently argues nothing against the Divine 
goodness, that suffering, as a punishment for trans- 
gression, prevails for a limited term of time, But it 
being a fact that a punishment for an unlimited or 
endless term of time, could do no possible good; 
and therefore that it could be no less than wholly 
evil ; and consequently that it would be exactly, 
perfectly, and in all respects consistent with the 
character of an all-evil god ; — it can not but be 
also a fact that such a punishment would be totally 
inconsistent with the character of Him who is 
emphatically " good to all," and "with whom is 
no variableness, neither shadow of turning." 2 

1 Heb. xiL 5-11. 2 James i. 17. 

15 



166 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

Observe, also, that the l - afterward " mentioned by 
the apostle, utterly precludes the idea of punish- 
ment being endless. 

Those who are exercised by God's chastise- 
ments or chastenings, can never taste the peaceable 
fruit of righteousness until they themselves become 
righteous ; and w T hen all become righteous, punish- 
ment must most certainly cease, its object having 
been attained. See the statement of the apostle, 
in the passage here alluded to, that God chastens 
us " for our profit, that we might be partakers of 
His holiness." 1 

II. If any are to be endlessly punished, such 
punishment is of course demanded by the justice 
of God. But the time can never come when an 
endless punishment shall have been suffered ; hence 
if justice really demands such a punishment, her 
demands must, of necessity, remain eternally un- 
satisfied. And it seems altogether unphilosophical 
to suppose that the justice of a God of wisdom 
would really demand what even Omnipotence itself 
could never cause to be paid. 

III. It is declared in the Scriptures, that 

" Charity rejoiceth in the truth.' 7 2 That 

is to say, Those persons rejoice in the truth who 
are influenced by the virtue named. Yet no one 
under the influence of charity can possibly rejoice 
in the doctrine of endless punishment. The proof 
of this shall appear presently. 

By " the truth/' here, as in several other texts, 
is likely meant — not all that is true, but — that 
particular system of religious truth revealed 
through Jesus Christ. " To this end was I born," 
said the Saviour, " and for this cause came I into 
the world, that 1 should bear witness to the 
truth." 3 

1 Heb. xii. 10. 2 1 Cor. xiii. 6. 

3 John xviii. 37. Compare yiii. 32. 



ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 167 

Charity, in the Scriptures, is the same as love. 
Where the beloved disciple tells of " the love of 
God," and that " love is of God," and that " God 
is love/' the word rendered " love " is the same as 
is rendered " charity " in all places where the word 
charity occurs in the Common Version. x 

The apostle also informs us that that love or 
charity which rejoices in the truth, " seeketh not 
her own/' which is equivalent to saying that 
charity is unselfish. It is evident, then, that the 
virtue he is describing is a disposition to seek the 
good of others — in a word, is what we now more 
usually call benevolence. The doctrine of the text 
then is, that a truly benevolent person — , one who 
is like Christ, — rejoices in the truth revealed by 
Christ. The same fact is recognized in other 
texts, as for*example, " Now the God of hope fill 
you with all joy and peace in believing." 2 

Some very benevolent persons have believed it to 
be a truth that endless punishment was to be the 
doom of some other persons toward whom they 
were exercised by the most benevolent feelings. 
But as to whether they rejoiced or not in thus 
believing, we need not be told. We understand 
that matter in advance. I claim, then, that the 
doctrine of endless punishment belongs not to that 
system of truth revealed through Jesus Christ, for 
the reason that that charity which rejoices spontane- 
ously in the truth, can not rejoice in that doctrine 
by any means whatever. 

IV. Not only is it an obvious fact that benevo- 
lence or charity can not rejoice in the doctrine of 
endless punishment, but an other and equally obvi- 
ous fact, is, that the contemplation of the final 
result presented by this doctrine, is directly and 

1 1 John iv. 7-11. 2 1 Cor. xiii. 5; Rom. xv. 13. 



168 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

eminently calculated to affect the minds of benevo- 
lent persons in an exceedingly unpleasant and even 
painful manner. While the selfish, the hard-heart- 
ed, the cruel, and those also whose mouths are 
" full of cursing and bitterness/ 7 are very little, if 
any affected by it, — the gentle, the generous, the 
sympathizing, the loving, the Christ-like, are trou- 
bled, and saddened, and grieved, and made misera- 
ble, — are sometimes driven to insanity, and even 
to suicide, — simply by a strong and vivid belief 
in the catastrophe constituting this doctrine's 
essentiality. As, therefore, the effects produced 
by the belief of this doctrine are of a character 
directly the opposite of those which the Scriptures 
ascribe to a belief of the truth, the inference un- 
avoidably is, that this doctrine and the truth are 
entirely two things. 

V. According to the Scriptures, as I shall pre- 
sently show, charity or benevolence will be known 
and exercised in the hereafter state, it being in- 
timately connected with the perfection of that 
state : 

" Charity never faileth ; but whether there be prophecies, 
they shall fail ; whether there be tongues, they shall cease ; 
whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we 
know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which 
is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done 
away .... And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three ; 
but the greatest of these is charity." 1 Cor. xiii. 8-13. 

" Put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Coll. 
iii. 14. 

From the above quotations, it is plain that, ac- 
cording to the Scriptures, charity or benevolence 
does not cease with the present life, but survives, 
as a connecting, uniting, binding force, in a much 
more perfect mode of existence. This being so, 
the endless misery of any human being is superla- 
tively improbable ; since, from the exercise of 
sympathy, such misery would most certainly be 



ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 169 

shared, and that endlessly, by those who manifestly 
do not deserve to be rendered thus miserable. 

The Scriptures, in special and in general terms, 
exhort to the exercise of sympathy with our fel- 
lows ; as, " Remember those who are in bonds, . . . 
and those who suffer adversity ;" " Rejoice with 
those who rejoice, and weep with those who 
weep." l Such sympathy is demanded by the law 
of love, which law, being based in the nature of 
God, is authoritative in all worlds. If, therefore, 
it is the duty of a Christian to sympathize with 
human suffering while in this earthly state, it must 
be equally his duty to do so after having passed 
into the celestial state. 

But law or no law, duty or not a duty, the truly 
benevolent, whether they express their feelings or 
not, always do sympathize with others in their joys 
and their sorrows, as did Jesus, the dear Son of 
God. It is natural for such to do so, even as it was 
for Him. Perhaps they could not easily refrain 
from it, if they would ; and we may be quite cer- 
tain that they would not, if they could ever so 
easily. 

There is a feeling extant in our world, a good 
expression of which is, " Let me be saved — I ask 
no more." The existence of this feeling is per- 
haps a principal reason why the endless punish- 
ment of all has seldom or never been in a direct 
manner taught. Give it its due. The after-death 
state, as all agree, is to be a state of happiness to 
some. But if those " some " are governed by the 
spirit of Christ, and not by unmixed, unmitigated 
selfishness, they cannot possibly be very happy, if 
also they see it to be a fact that others are per- 
fectly and irremediably miserable. Nor this alone. 
If such misery is actually seen to be endless, the 

1 Hebrew xiii. 3; Rom. xiL 15. 

15* 



170 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

perception of this fact can not but induce in the 
happy a degree of positive misery. And the 
greater and more abundant their benevolence, the 
greater and more abundant their misery ; and this 
state of things must continue, too, as long as that 
continues which calls forth their sympathies. If, 
then, some are to be endlessly miserable, all will 
be so. The dividing of the child would have been 
fatal to the true mother's half, as well as to the 
other. 

It is therefore argued, here, that the endless 
punishment of any of mankind is improbable to 
the last degree, seeing that it would involve in a 
like calamity all who possess the spirit of Christ. 
If the punishment, however severe, were seen to 
be terminable in good, the case would be radically 
different. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

ENDLESS PUNISHMENT — CONCLUDED. 

VI. There are a considerable number of Scrip- 
ture texts in which the doctrine of endless pun- 
ishment seems expressly negatived ; as in the 
following : 

11 The Lord will not cast off forever : But though He cause 
grief, yet will he have compassion, according to the multitude 
of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve 
the children of men." Lam. iii. 31-33. 

In this passage, we are first instructed as to what 
the Lord will not do — he will not cast off for ever. 
In the second place, we learn what He will do — 
he will exercise compassion to an extent commen- 
surate with his many mercies. Thirdly, we are 
told, in express terms, why He will do the latter 
and will not do the former — he does not afflict 
willingly , that is, from taking pleasure in it; nor 
does he grieve mankind for the mere purpose of 
grieving them. And observe. It is no select 
class or classes of human beings concerning whom 
the above denials and affirmations are made. The 
prophet expressly mentions " the children of men/ 7 
that is, the race in general. Observe also, that he 
is not treating of national judgments, but of God's 
dealings with mankind in an individual capacity. 
See the context : — "II is good for a man that he 



172 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone, and 
keepeth silence, because he had borne it/' &c. 

The advocates of the doctrine in question con- 
tend that, in the Bible, the expression " for ever," 
when applied to punishment, imports a strictly 
endless duration. Now if it has this sense here, 
then are we certified, by Divine authority, that no 
one will be cast off for an endless duration ; — 
hence the doctrine of endless punishment is not 
from God. 

It is clearly a fact, however, that, in some Scrip- 
ture texts, the word rendered " ever 7? signifies an 
age or indefinite period ; a long, or seemingly long 
space of time. (See Chap. vi. of this work.) Yet 
if it has this sense in the passage before us, the 
doctrine in question is none the less negatived ; 
— it is, in fact, negatived all the more strongly,- — 
since if the compassions and mercies of God will 
not admit of His casting off any one for even an 
age, most certainly he will not cast off for an end- 
less duration. 

A somewhat similar passage occurs in the Book 
of Psalms. The writer tells of having been greatly 
" troubled " upon a certain subject — so troubled 
that (, to use his own expressions,) his eyes were 
held waking, his spirit was overwhelmed, and he 
could not even speak. And what so troubled him ? 
Answer, he had been revolving in his own mind 
— , so it appears, — the following preeminently im- 
portant moral questions : 

" Will the Lord cast off for evert and will He be favorable 
no more ? 

Is his mercy clean gone for ever ? doth his promise fail for 
evermore ? 

Hath God forgotten to be gracious ? hath He in anger shut up 
his tender mercies ? Psalms lxxvii. 7-9. 



ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 173 

No wonder the Psalmist was troubled when such 
questions haunted his mind; that is, provided he 
had an idea that their true answer could be an 
affirmative ; and especially so, if by " for ever " he 
understood an endless duration. In these times, 
it is no unheard-of thing for persons to become 
insane over this subject. 

But what conclusion did Asaph come to at last ? 
He immediately adds, (and let all ponder these in- 
structive words,) " And I said, This is my infirm- 
ity" Yea, verily, it ivas an infirmity — , a pitia- 
ble weakness, — to even suppose, apprehensively, 
that any person could be morally cast off for ever, 
in even an indefinite sense ; since, according to the 
writer's own showing, in order for God to thus cast 
off, during even an indefinite period, not only must 
His ever-enduring mercy be " clean gone for ever/ 7 
but He must also let his promise " fail for ever- 
[and] more/' which failure would suppose, at the 
least, an everlasting violation of good faith ! 

In an other passage, " the High and Lofty One 
who inhabited eternity/' declares through the pro- 
phet thus : 

" I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth : 
for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have 
made." Isa. lvii. 15. 

In the Scriptures, by a figure of speech, punish- 
ment is often represented as resulting from Divine 
wrath, anger, indignation, or vengeance, called 
forth by human wickedness. Of this, the text just 
cited is an example, as is also the verse following 
it : " For the iniquity of his covetousness was I 
wroth and smote him/' &c. Indeed, in some in- 
stances, wrath, or the like, appears to be used 
metonymically for punishment or retribution ; as 
where an apostle mentions treasuring up " wrath 
against the day of wrath ; " (rightly, " a day ;) 



174 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

also, where he assures us that " the wrath of God 
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and 
unrighteousness of men/' &C. 1 

Keeping in mind the above facts, one can hardly 
avoid seeing that the solemn declaration of the 
eternal God, " I will not contend for ever, neither 
will I be always wroth," is fully equivalent to " I 
will not punish any one for a long indefinite time." 
And how cogent also, yet easy of intellection, is 
the reason assigned! — "for the spirits or souls 
which I have made would fail before me." Can 
as forcible and plain a reason be given on the 
opposite side of the question ? 

Of similar import to the foregoing, are the fol- 
lowing and several other passages : 

" I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I well not keep anger 
for ever." Jer. iii. 12. 

" He retaineth not his anger for ever, because He delighteth 
in mercy." Micah vii. 18. 

In all texts of this class, it is manifest that the 
anger mentioned has no ill-will in it, each text 
breathing forth a spirit of pity and loving-kindness 
quite inconsistent with the exercise of literal 
anger. 

There are a few texts in which ever, or a kindred 
term, is applied to punishment affirmatively. Thus 
David, addressing his son Solomon upon the sub- 
ject of adherence to God by the continued obser- 
vance of His laws, says, 

" If thou forsake him, He will cast thee off for ever . " 1 
Chron. xxviii. 9. 

In regard to the above text, one very important 
circumstance seems well-nigh always overlooked : 
David was declaring the grounds of Solomon's 
prosperity as a king of Israel, including the much 

1 Eomans ii. 5: i. 18. 



ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 175 

desired item that all the succeeding kings of Israel 
should be of his line. The casting off of which 
he speaks is therefore of & political character — re- 
fo'^io-political, of course, yet truly political. Thus 
David had just been telling the people that God 
had promised concerning Solomon, 

u I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to 
do my commandments and my judgment as at this day." 
Verse 7. 

And in the same style of exhortation which he 
uses toward his son ; he says to the people, 

" Xow therefore. . . .keep and seek for all the commandments 
of the Lord your God ; that ye may possess this good land, 
and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for 
ever J 1 Verse 8. 

It being clearly a fact, then, that the topic of dis- 
course, in relation to Solomon, was, that his kingly 
prosperity, especially as to being the honored pro- 
genitor of a long line of kings, depended upon his 
continued allegiance to Jehovah, in the punctual 
observance of the Mosaic code, how natural it 
seems for David to have said to Solomon, " If thou 
forsake Him/' — leave off obeying His command-, 
ments, — " he will cast thee off for ever," — that 
is, as to prosperity in thy kingdom ! Such a cast- 
ing off, though, it were final, or even endless, has 
no relation to the common doctrine of endless pun- 
ment. 

Jesus Christ declares expressly, concerning 
some, 

" And these shall go away into everlasting punishment." 
Matt. xxv. 46. 

£ In regard to the punishment here mentioned, I 
take it upon me to affirm — what I will presently 
prove — that it was of a national character, and 



176 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD. 

hence that this oft quoted text affords not the least 
support to the doctrine under examination. For, 
unless annihilation is really an endless infliction, 
no punishment of a nation can be endless ; for the 
plain reason that no nation is to have an endless 
existence. A national punishment may, however, 
be age-lasting, and yet it be entirely true, in the 
sense intended in Scripture, that God will not cast 
off for an age ; that is, He will not cast off any 
individual for so long a time. 

The text in which the phrase u everlasting pun- 
ishment" occurs, is a part of the concluding verse 
of one of our Lord's parables, usually known as 
the parable of the sheep and the goats. (Proper- 
ly, the rewards and punishments of the nations.) 
In this parable or allegory, is supposed to be 
described the yet future assembling of all mankind, 
and the separate adjudgment of each individual to 
endless happiness or to endless misery. Yet no 
such account, nor any thing very nearly resembling 
it, is actually contained therein, the accredited per- 
ceptions of thousands to the contrary notwith- 
standing. 

Near the commencement of the description, we 
read as follows : 

" Before Him shall be gathered all nations ; and he shall 
separate them one from an other." Matt. xxv. 32. 

It is grammatically indisputable, that the pro- 
noun " them," in the above-quoted text, is exactly 
equivalent to the expression " the nations." The 
text does not affirm that Christ will separate each 
nation into the individuals composing it; much 
less, that He will separate the individuals of each 
nation one from an other ; but simply, that He will 
separate the nations one from an other, they being 
parabolically represented as all gathered into one 



ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 177 

assemblage. The separation, then, being clearly a 
national one, it must be also clear, that the parties 
were to be dealt with in a national capacity. 

The limits of this work will not admit an ex- 
tended exposition of this parable. I offer a brief 
synopsis of the principal points of such an exposi- 
tion : 

1. The subject of the parable of the sheep and 
the goats so styled, is the calling of the Gentiles, 
and the casting off the Jews. 

2. The time of the judgment is a certain space 
of time ending with the destruction of Jerusalem 
by the Romans. - i 

3. Those on the right hand of the King, are the 
Gentiles ; those on the left, the Jews. 

4. The King's " brethren/ 5 (constituting a third 
party which is usually overlooked,) are the early 
Christians. 

5. Acts of hospitality and kindness being done, 
or not done, to Christ's brethren, and accounted by 
Him as having been done or not done to Himself] 
is a symbolization of the fact that, in general, the 
Gentiles received the gospel, and treated the 
Christians kindly, — while the conduct of the 
Jews, as a nation, was directly the reverse of this. 

6. There being at that time no Christian nations, 
all nations being either Jews or Gentiles, the 
phrase " all nations " did not include the Christians. 
To these, the glorified Saviour distinctly promised 
that they should be seated with Him in his throne, 
and have and exercise " power over the nations : " 

" To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in my 
throne, even, as I also overcame, and am set down with my 
Father in His throne." Rev, iii. 21. 

" And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works to the end, 
to him will I give power over the nations : and he shall rule 
them even as I received of my Father J' Rev* iu26, 27 m 

16 



178 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD, 

7. The hingdom which those on the right hand 
were to be called to inherit, is Christianity, or the 
gospel, — the same that Jesus told the Jews 
should be taken from them, and given to a nation 
bringing forth the fruits thereof. Matt. xxi. 43. 

8. The everlasting fire into which those on the 
left were to be driven, is the unparalleled "tribu- 
lation 7 ' endured by the Jews in the siege and 
destruction of their metropolis. (The terms of 
the figure allude to the constant fire kept going in 
the valley of Hinnom, which fire was first kindled 
in sacrifices to the idol Moloch or Baal. See Jer. 
vii. 31, and other places.) 

9. The eternal or everlasting life which the 
righteous were to go into, is that spiritual life 
enjoyed by believing the gospel. (See Chaps, vi., 
xv. of this work.) 

10. The everlasting punishment which the others 
were to go away into, is the Jews' dispersion, their 
banishment from Judea, their nation sufferings, 
their spiritual blindness, &c. (See Chaps. ix., xv. 
of this work.) 

The punishment of the Jews having now con- 
tinued nearly 1800 years, and we know not how 
much longer it may continue, was quite as pro- 
perly called " everlasting " as had been the 
Levitical priesthood, the possession of the land 
of Canaan by the Jews, &c. (See Chap. vi. of this 
work.) 

VII. The doctrine of endless punishment is 
wholly at variance with the Scripture doctrine 
touching the final result of Christ's government, 
particularly as set forth in the two certain passages 
to be presently quoted from the apostolical writ- 
ings. 

The apostle is illustrating his subject by the 
language of the following text from the Psalmist : 

" Thou hast put all things under his feet." Ps. viii. 6. 



ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 179 

Though with a variation from our version of the 
Old Testament equivalent to a couple of supplied 
words ; and that in the other passage, the text in 
mention is merely alluded to. His quotation, his 
allusion, and his comments, — the whole comprising 
the two passages, from two separate Epistles, — 
are as follows : 

" ' Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet J 
For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing 
that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things 
put under him. But we see Jesus who was made a little lower 
than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory 
and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for 
every man." Heb. ii. 8, 9. 

" For He hath 'put all things under his feet.' But when he 
saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that He is 
excepted who did put all things under him. And when all 
things shall be subdued to him, then shall the Son also himself 
be subject to Him who put all things under him, that God may 
be all in all." 1 Cor. xv. 27, 28. 

The remarks of the apostle in these two passages 
indubitably establish the following philological and 
doctrinal particulars : 

1. The word " all," as here used, imports every- 
one, or the whole of what it is applied to ; since 
the apostle illustrates its extent of meaning by 
saying that nothing was left out, God excepted. 

2. The phrase " all things " does not refer to 
inanimate objects, but is used, after the idiom of 
the Greek, instead of the phrase all persons ; since 
the apostle applies it to those for whom Jesus died, 
and who shall be " subdued to Him " ; and even 
uses, as equivalent thereto, an expression rendered 
" every man." 

3. Although, grammatically speaking, the verb 
11 hast put" is in the past tense, the time intended 
is clearly future ; for Paul manifestly treats it as a 
prediction, and even says, " We see not yet all 



180 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

things put under him." Note. Using the past 
tense in declaring future events, — for the most 
part, however, in poetry, — is a well-known 
Hebrew idiom. See the 53d chapter of Isaiah. 

4. To put all things, which is to say, all human 
beings, under Christ's " feet," or " under him," 
means to subdue them to him ; since, in PauPs com- 
ments on the phrase, he says, " And when all 
things shall be subdued to him,' 7 — which ex- 
pression is evidently intended to be equivalent to 
saying, u And when all things shall be put under 
him.' 7 

5. To be " subdued " to Christ, is to become 
subject to him ; for in Paul's quotation of the text 

from the Psalms, the words " in subjection 7 ' appear, 
as if for the purpose of indicating what is meant 
by the figure of putting under one 7 s feet. And 
besides, he tells us that " the Son also himself 
shall be subject, 77 which, of course, is saying that 
the others shall. 

From the foregoing specifications, it seems 
entirely clear, that the doctrine of Paul in regard 
to human destiny, is, that God will render all 
human beings subject to Christ. And if all become 
subject to Christ, how can any be endlessly 
miserable ? 

I know it may be asserted that some will submit 
unwillingly, being compelled to yield as is a nation 
subdued by a foreign Power. But I know also, 
that Jesus, when arraigned before Pilate, totally 
disclaimed that manner of dominion. Said He, 

" My kingdom is not of this world ; if my kingdom were of 
this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be 
delivered to the Jews : but now is my kingdom not from 
hence." John xviii. 36. 

In the above, we are instructed by the King 
himself, who of course understood the genius of 



ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 181 

his own government, that His kingdom differs from 
those of this world in that its specific objects are 
not directly attainable by the use of physical force. 
The great subduing power, then, through which, 
in process of time, all mankind are to be subjected 
to the Son of God, must be — not physical, but — 
moral power,- — which, of course, must be brought 
to bear upon man's moral nature. AH, then, who 
shall become subject to Christ, will most assuredly 
yield a willing, a hearty, a loyal, a joyful sub- 
mission to His government. 

In accordance with the above, after teaching 
that all shall become subject to Christ, and that 
then Christ will be subject to God, the apostle, by 
way, as it would seem, of announcing the grand 
object and design of those two events, makes use of 
the following most remarkable language: 

" That God may be all in all." 

This, certainly seems to be equivalent to de- 
claring that there shall be a perfect spiritual unity 
among all mankind, between them and Christ, 
between all and God. 

The beloved disciple lovingly says, 

" If we love one an other, God dwelleth in us, and His love 

is perfected in us God is love ; and he who dwelleth 

in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him." 1 John iv. 12, 16. 

When God comes to be all in all, He must, by 
His own inherent love, reign supreme in every 
heart ; and then, most surely, all will love one an 
other ; and love, as saith the Scripture, is the ful- 
filling of the law ; and when all shall fulfil the law, 
there certainly can be no sin ; and when there 
shall be no sin, there must consequently be no 
misery. 

16* 



CHAPTEE XX. 



THE LAST-DAY RESURRECTION. 

In the Gospel of John are seven texts that con- 
tain the expression " the last day ; " and a resur- 
rection or raising up is mentioned in five of them. 
An examination of these seven texts will form the 
Bubject of this chapter. 

The Greek preposition en is connected with the 
phrase in mention, and is rendered twice " in/' and 
five times " at ; " as " in the last day/ 7 " at the last 
day." 

One of the texts above alluded to refers pro- 
fessedly to " the last day, that great day ;" yet the 
day mentioned is merely the concluding one " of 
the feast" of tabernacles ! ] 

Two of the texts alluded to are often cited to 
prove that the resurrection of mankind is exclu- 
sively future, and that it is to happen simultane- 
ously : 

" This is the Father's will who hath sent me, that of all that 
he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up 
again at the last day" John vi. 39. 

" Jesus said to her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha 
said to him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection 
at the last day" John xi. 23, 24. 

Now let it be assumed that by " the last day " is 

1 John yii. 37. 



THE LAST-DAY RESURRECTION. 183 

here meant the final termination of human mor- 
tality, and the language of these texts will seem 
perfectly in accordance with the idea that the 
resurrection of all mankind is future and simul- 
taneous. But let it be understood that by " the 
last day ?? is meant the close of the Jewish age, 
dispensation, or state, and these two texts, with 
several others, will put on an altogether different 
aspect. And, strange as such an interpretation 
may seem, the writer hereof is decidedly of the 
opinion that the true reference of at least the 
former of the two is actually to the close of that 
age; and, of course, that the rising is not to im- 
mortality. Various considerations go to establish 
this conclusion — some of which follow: 

I. In three of the texts wherein raising up at 
the last day is mentioned, our Lord promised to 
raise up at that time those who should receive and 
obey His teachings, yet gave not the least intima- 
tion that He would raise any others. But the 
resurrection to immortality is certainly not for 
such persons alone. The Saviour has elsewhere 
expressly taught that all the so-called dead live to 
God by virtue of a resurrection. And Paul de- 
clares his confident hope " that there shall be a 
resurrection of the dead, both of the just and un- 
just." l 

" This is the will of Him who sent me, that every one who 
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life ; 
and I will raise him up at the last day J 1 John vi. 40. 

" No one can come to me, unless the Father who had sent 
me draw him ; and I will raise him up at the last day" 
Verse 44. 

" Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eter- 
nal life ; and I will raise him up at the last day" Verse 54. 

From the language of these three texts, — as 

1 Luke xx. 37, 38; Acts xxiv. 15. 



184 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

highly figurative as some of it is, — -it is apparent 
that the last-day resurrection was promised only to 
such as should receive and obey the Saviour's 
teachings. Lazarus, the brother of Martha and 
Mary, was doubtless such a one ; and therefore the 
statement of Martha as to his rising at the last 
day, may be regarded as entirely true in word, 
whether she understood our Lord's meaning in 
that phrase, or whether she did not. But this ris- 
ing up being promised to believers, as such, it is 
absurd to suppose that the very same thing was to 
be conferred, and this too at the very same time, 
upon the opposite class also. 

In reply to this, it may be urged that the Saviour 
was to raise up at the last day all whom the Father 
had given him ; also, that God had given him all 
mankind ; — hence that the raising not merely of 
believers, but of all others also, is, truly, to be at 
the last day, the foregoing argument to the con- 
trary notwithstanding. 

It is indeed true that, in a very important sense, 
all have been given to Christ, he having been con- 
stituted the Regal " Heir of all things." 1 But it is 
equally true that, in an other sense, not all are 
His either by gift or inheritance. Witness His own 
words : 

" I have manifested thy Name to the men whom Thou gavest 
me out of the world : Thine they were, and thou gavest them 

me I pray for them : I pray not for the world, but for 

those whom thou hast given me Holy Father, keep 

through thy own Name those whom thou hast given me, that 
they may be one, as we are." John xvii. 6-11. 

It is to be observed also, that in the text, " This 
is the Father's will, ..... that of all which He 
hath given me I shall lose nothing," the very ex- 
pression, " all which He hath given me," indicates, 

1 Hebrew i. 2. 



THE LAST-DAY RESURRECTION. 185 

unmistakably, that some had not been given to him 
in the sense there intended. The u all " is limited 
by the phrase following it. 

II. That the close or ending of the Jewish age, 
should have been denominated " the last day," is 
quite as natural as that the period reaching from 
the advent of Christ to the ending mentioned, 
should have been denominated " the last days : 7 ' 

" God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake 
in time past to the fathers by the prophets, hath in these the last 
days, spoken to us by his Son." Heb. i. 1, 2. 

"This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel : And 
it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out 

of my spirit upon all flesh And I will show wonders in 

heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath .... The sun 
shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, be- 
fore that great and notable day of the Lord come." Acts ii. 
16-20. 

In the former of these passages. u the last days " 
are plainly represented as being then in progress, 
and as having begun with our Saviour's ministry. 
(" These the last days ?; is a literal rendering.) In 
the latter passage, some of the events of " the last 
days" are expressly declared to be then passing; 
(" this is that which was spoken ; ;; ) and, except- 
ing only the arrival of " that great and notable 
day/' the whole is set forth as to be accomplished 
P before " that day's arrival. And since it is a fact 
that, when announcing the " signs " Which should 
precede the coming judgments of God upon the 
Jews, the Saviour employed language almost iden- 
tical with that here quoted by Peter from Joel, the 
conclusion seems unavoidable that the great and 
notable day in mention is the time when those 
judgments came upon them. (See as referred to 
below.) x And since li in the last days " is certainly 

1 Mark xiii. 24-30; Luke xxi. 20-30. , 



186 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

toivard the close of the Jewish age, is it not per- 
fectly natural that " at the last day " should mean 
at its close ? " The last day " is therefore the same 
as " that great and notable day," namely, the last 
of the last days. 

III. " In the last day" according to the Saviour, 
the unbelievers were to be judged or condemned, 
as well as the believers to be raised : 

" He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath 
one that [or that which] judgeth him : the word that I have 
spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" John xiL 
48. 

It is entirely certain, from many passages of 
Scripture, that there was to be a judgment at the 
close of the Jewish age or dispensation ; and it is 
equally certain that the judgment and the rising of 
the dead to immortal life are not, in all The Book, 
described as accompanying events — a strong cir- 
cumstance in favor of the position that the phrase, 
" the last day," as employed by our Saviour, signi- 
fies the close of the age then present. (See Chap, 
xvi. of this work.) 

IV. The rewards and punishments which were 
to be dispensed at the close of that age, or at the 
coming of Christ in that generation, are set forth 
in John, 5th Chapter, as in Daniel 12th, under the 
figure of two resurrections. (See Chaps, xix., 
xx.) From this circumstance alone, it would seem 
to be certain that when our Lord, in John, 6th 
chapter, promised to raise up at the last clay those 
who should believe in Him and obey his require- 
ments, He meant the same as he did, in the pre- 
ceding chapter, by " the resurrection of life ; " 
and this the more so since, in both the passages, 
He represents the believer as having everlasting 
or eternal life at that present time. And it would 
seem equally certain that when, in the 12th chap- 



THE LAST-DAY RESURRECTION. 187 

ter, He testified that whoever should reject him 
and receive not his words would be judged or con- 
demned in the last day, he meant the same as he 
previously did by "the resurrection of damnation" 
— properly " of condemnation v or "judgment." 
Whatever, then, may be meant by the last day re- 
surrection, or by the last-day judgment, one thing 
seems perfectly clear — the reference of the texts 
is the same as is that of those wherein are set 
forth tivo resurrections. If to be raised up at the 
last day is a resurrection to immortality at the close 
of the Saviour's reign, then, to come to the resur- 
rection of damnation is to be condemned at the 
close of His reign, and, of course, finally. But the 
latter is not true — therefore, not the former. 

Y. There can be no doubt that in our Lord's 
reply to the Sadducees " touching the resurrection 
of the dead,' 7 he speaks of a rising to immortality ; 
and the language employed by Him on that oc- 
casion is all the same as strictly literal ; since the 
only figure He uses — , that of being " children 
of," (or " sons of,") — was a common every-day 
mode of speech. 1 But in the chapter where He 
tells of the last-day resurrection, a great share of 
his language is highly figurative — some of it even 
strangely so : 

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If 
any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever ; and the bread 
which I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of 

the world Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, 

and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my 
flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise 

him up at the last day He that eateth me, even he shall 

live by me." John vi. 51-57. 

In like manner, when Jesus had said to Martha, 
11 Thy brother shall rise again," (literally,) "shall 

1 Matt. xxii. 23-32 ; Mark xii. 18-27 ; Luke xx. 27-38. 



188 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD. 

be raised/ 7 that is, shall be restored to life present- 
ly, and she, uncertain whether she might accept 
His words in that sense, had replied, " I know that 

he shall be raised at the last day/' our 

Lord at once rejoins, u I am the resurrection and 
the life." l 

The fact that in near connection with the phrase, 
" the last day/' are found bold and extraordinary 
metaphors, seems a' clear indication that the raising 
up found in connection with that phrase, is not to 
be taken in the ordinary sense of that expression. 

It is likely that the disciples had as good an idea 
of what Jesus meant by " the last day ;; as have 
many of the moderns ; but in regard to human im- 
mortality, it is certain that even the apostles, at 
that stage of their discipleship, did not well under- 
stand their Master's doctrine. The question which 
they put to Him, no great while previous, concern- 
ing a man born blind, indicates, plainly enough, that 
they were as much as tinctured with a belief in the 
Pharisees' doctrine of transmigration, or a resur- 
rection into this mode of being. (See Chap. i. of 
this work.) 

The idea of Martha, when she spoke so confi- 
dently of her brother's rising in the last-day resur- 
rection, was probably this — that, along with the 
ancient saints, the deceased disciples of Christ 
would live again upon earth when He should set 
up his kingdom. To their understandings, had He 
not plainly taught this? Addressing some of his 
non-disciples, and^again his disciples, He, at dif- 
ferent times, had said : 

" Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; for many, I say to 

you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able There 

will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see 
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the 

l John xi. 25. 



THE LAST-DAY RESURRECTION. 189 

kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they 
will come from the east, and from the west, and from the 
north, and from the south, and will sit down in the kingdom 
of God. And, behold, there are last which will be first," &c. 
Luke xiii. 24-30. 

11 The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given 
to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Matt. xxi. 43. 

" And He lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, 
Blessed are ye poor; for yours is the kingdom of God." 
Luke vi. 20. . 

" Fear not, little flock ; for it is your Father's good pleasure 
to give you the kingdom." Luke xii. 32. 

A few hints toward an exposition of John vi. 
39, in accordance with the views put forth in this 
chapter, are perhaps called for in this place. 

The "all" which, in this text, God is said to 
have given to Christ, I understand to be Christ's 
apostles, taken collectively. It is true that the 
word rendered " all " has here the neuter form, and 
so is followed by " it," in the same gender ; but 
this, in Gh^eek, it not at all inconsistent with its 
application to persons. Besides, the word render- 
ed " should lose/' applies commonly to the losing 
of persons by their being destroyed ; as of soldiers, 
by a general, &c. The " all " being also in the 
singular number, the " it " in the last member of 
the sentence probably personates the "all"; 
though, as some one has suggested, it may stand 
merely for Judas. (?) 

Against this it may be urged that since the 
Father's will is here declared to be that Jesus 
should not lose any that had been given to him, 
the text in hand can not refer to the apostles, see- 
ing that, in a text now about to be quoted, the loss 
of one of them is undeniably admitted by the 
Saviour himself: 

" Those whom Thou gavest me I have kept, and none of 
them is lost but the son of perdition. ,, (Properly, in this 
place, " the son of loss.") John xvii. 12. 

17 



190 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

The true answer to this, is, that though, during 
a short time, Judas was actually lost to our Lord, 
that is, as to being a friend of His cause, it was 
only during a short time that he was thus lost. 
When, in prayer with His disciples, late in the 
evening of Passover night, Jesus spoke of having 
lost the son of loss, Judas was absent, having left, 
at or before the close of the supper, with the 
design (, which he seems to have harbored for a 
day or two,) of acting as " guide " to those who 
wished to arrest Him. Later in the night, he re- 
turned, and pointd Him out ; but early the next 
morning, and as soon as " he saw that He was 
condemned," he " repented, 7 ' and did all that he 
could do in his Master's behalf. 1 And subse- 
quently, in the early times, when the disagreeable 
fact of Christ's having suffered as a malefactor was 
strongly and persistently urged against His religion, 
the ample and unexceptionable testimony which 
Judas, in word, deed, and suffering, * had borne to 

* " In word, deed, and suffering." In word, " I have sinned in 
that I have betrayed the innocent blood " ; in deed, by returning 
the price of his Master's betrayal; in suffering, by the overpower- 
ing mental emotions which, in one way or an other, occasioned his 
death. 

Admitting that Judas really committed suicide, as is commonly 
supposed, it is by no means certain that he hanged himself, the 
rendering of the Common Version to the contrary notwithstanding. 
The word rendered " hanged himself," in Matt, xxvii. 5, does not 
signify to hang or suspend, but has the sense of choke, strangle, 
or suffocate. (In Acts x. 39, Gal. iii. 13, Matt. xxii. 40, &c., quite 
another word is used.) And there is no evidence that he committed 
suicide at all, excepting the bare fact that apegxato, verbally " was 
suffocated," or " was strangled," may have a reflective sense, and 
so signifiy to suffocate or strangle one's self. 

The expression rendered " and went and hanged himself," is, 
literally, " and going forth, was suffocated." And Luke, in Acts 
i. 18, tells us concerning Judas, that " falling headlong," which is 
to say head foremost, " he burst asunder," &c. 

Query. Had Judas suspended himself by the neck, and by that 

1 Matt, xxvii. 3-5. 



THE LAST-DAY RESURRECTION. 191 

our Saviour's innocence, must have been, to the 
early Christians, inestimably valuable. Hence — , 
u traitor v as he was, or " devil/ 7 in the Scriptural 
sense, — he as really assisted in the introduction 
and establishment of Christianity as did any of his 
fellow-apostles. 

The words of Christ in prayer for His apostles, 
— " those whom Thou hast given me/ 7 — with the 
subsequent remark of John, — "that the saying 
might be fulfilled which He spoke, ' Of those whom 
Thou gavest me have I lost none," — are very 
similar to the language of the text in hand. So, 
after praying for his apostles, he adds, " Neither 
pray I for these alone, but for those also who shall 
believe on me through their word ; that they all 

may be one, and that the world may know 

that Thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as 
Thou hast loved me." * And as a counterpart to 
this, observe that in Chap, i, after declaring the 
Divine will concerning all that God had given him 
in the sense there intended, — verse 39, — He im- 
mediately speaks of God's will as to " every one 
who seeth the Son and believeth on him" — and pre- 
sently announces what himself will do " for the 
life of the world." 2 

Taking all the circumstances into the account, it 
seems to me a perfectly clear case, that as in the 
quotation from the 17th chapter of John, so in that 
from the 6th, our Lord first speaks of his apostles, 
then of believers in general, then of the world. 

The following startling announcement of Christ 

means suffocated himself, and afterward fallen, as some have imag- 
ined, would he not have fallen feet foremost? 

N. B. — Suffocation from vehement mental emotion, as violent 
grief, fear, or anger, is no unheard-of thing ; and it is said that 
such cases have sometimes been attended with a falling out of the 
bowels . 

1 John xvii. 20-23; xviii. 9. 2 John vi. 39, 40, 51. 



192 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

to Martha, perhaps claims some remarks in this 
connection : 

" I am the resurrection and the life : he that believeth in me, 
though he were dead, yet shall he live. Arid whosoever liveth 
and believeth in me, shall never die." John xi. 25, 26. 

The adverb " never," in this text, is a rendering 
of five Greek words — the double negative, " on 
me/' (equivalent to " by no means/ 7 ) and the 
phrase " eis ton aiona " ; (partly defined in Chap. 
vi ;) so that the phrase rendered " shall never 
die", is, literally, (leaving the latter half untrans- 
lated,) " shall by no means die eis ton aionaP In 
this text and a few others, I suppose axon to have 
the sense of " spirit" and eis to signify " in/ 9 I 
subjoin a rendering of the text in hand more near- 
ly literal than that in the Common Version, — and 
which gives also my understanding of the phrase 
in mention : 

" I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in 
me, even though he has died, shall live ; and every one living 
and believing in me, shall by no means die spiritually." 
Literally, " die in the spirit." (Aion.) 

With this compare a more literal rendering of, 
Pet. iv. 6 : 

" For, for this cause was the gospel preached also to dead 
persons, that they might indeed be judged with men in flesh, 
yet live with God in spirit." (Pneuma.) 

It seems to me also, that in a few other texts, the 
Greek phrase in hand has the sense of " spiritually" 
or " in spirit: " 

" Whosoever drinketh of the water that I will give him shall 
by no means thirst eis ton aiona ; but the water that I will give 
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into aionios 
life. John iv. 14. 

" This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a 

man may eat thereof, and not die If any man eat of this 

bread, he shall live eis ton aiona ; and the bread that I will 



THE LAST-DAY RESURRECTION. 193 

give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world," 
" Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath aionios 
life." " Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead : he 
that eateth of this bread shall live eis ton aiona" John vi. 50, 
51, 54, 58. 

If, in the foregoing texts, the phrase eis ton aiona 
is certainly used as an indicator of time, it must 
mean either for an endless duration, or for a period 
indefinite — that is, for eternity, or for an age. 
But did the Saviour really promise this, that those 
believing in Him shall live endlessly ? If so, the 
fair inference is, that the opposite class are to be 
annihilated — a conclusion wholly at variance with 
our Lord's own position, that all the so-called dead 
u live " to God, and that thay can not " die any 
more."' 1 Did He promise merely that believers 
shall live for an age ? The inference then is, that, 
at the end of the age, they, too, will sink into 
nihilism, in like manner as all the unbelievers will 
have done before them. I can not receive either 
this or that. To my understanding, the promise 
is, that Christian believers shall have the life " pro- 
per to the spirit/ 7 or what perhaps is the same 
thing, the life " pertaining to the age,' ' that is to 
say, to the Christian age, which life is manifestly 
spiritual. I therefore render aionios " spiritual", 
where that term is joined with life ; and, in some 
texts, I render eis ton aiona " spiritually " or " in 
spirit.'- 

1 Luke xx. 38, 36. 

17* 



CHAPTER XXL 

THE DISEMBODIED STATE AND A SIMULTANEOUS 
UNIVERSAL RESURRECTION. 

It is commonly taught as a Christian doctrine, 
that the spirits of the departed are all in a dis- 
embodied state, which state or condition is also 
called "the intermediate state/' as coming between 
the death of an individual and what is usually 
called " the general resurrection." For it is also 
taught that except in the case of Jesus, and per- 
haps in a few other instances, there has been 
no resurrection yet ; — that is, to an immortal 
embodiment; — and that at some future period, 
near, or distant, or very distant, the resurrection 
day will arrive, in which all human spirits will be 
reembodied, either at once, or at two successive 
periods. The above-mentioned doctrines are, in 
my view, errenoneous ; and I propose to offer, in 
this chapter, two or three reasons against their 
correctness : 

1. The Apostle Paul, in a certain passage de- 
clares as follows : 

" We know that if our earthly house of this tahernacle were 
dissolved, we have a building of [or from] God, a house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Cor. v. 1. 

In the same connection with the above, he also, 
in a text which has been quoted in a previous 



THE DISEMBODIED STATE, ETC. 195 

chapter of this work, speaks of being, for the 
present, " at home in the body/' that is, in his 
earthly one, of course. (See Chap, xii.) And 
this language seems to me to be not such at all as 
the apostle would have employed had he expected 
at death to enter upon a disembodied state. Ac- 
cording to the figure he here uses, if it was his 
destiny, on quitting his earthly body, to remain 
for ages without a body, then was he soon to be 
totally unhoused ; and the condition in which he 
is at present, in which he has been from that time 
to this, and in which he must need be hereafter for 
we know not how long, is that of being in an un- 
sheltered state, destitute entirely of habitation or 
home. Yet this agrees not well with the Christian 
idea in regard to the circumstances of departed 
saints. 

Nor does this houseless and homeless condition 
accord any better with the spirit of the apostle's 
language. Viewing the dissolution of his body 
as a not far distant event, he looks forward to his 
condition thereafter with evidently pleasing antici- 
pations. (See as below.) 1 Had he represented 
his earthly body as a place of confinement, and 
spoken of being liberated therefrom at death 
as a prisoner released from prison, this had been in 
perfect keeping with the doctrine of the disem- 
bodied state. Instead, however, of employing that 
kind of language, he — , as we have just seen, — 
makes mention of his " earthly house" speaks of be- 
ing " at home in " it, and declares in substance, " If 
this should fall to pieces, we know we have an 
other. This is but a temporary structure ; that a 
place of permanent abode." It therefore seems 
entirely certain to me, that he expected to become 
an inhabitant of a heavenly house on quitting the 
earthly one. 

»2Cor. IY, 16; v. 8. 



196 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

2. In the passage in hand, the apostle, in con- 
tinuation of his theme, goes on thus : 

M For in this [, that is, ' in this house/] we groan, earnestly 
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from 
heaven : If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found 
naked." 

Here, if the rendering in the Common Version 
is certainly correct, the apostle superadds the 
figure of clothing, and — blending it with that of 
shelter — expresses his very earnest desire to be 
clad with his heavenly house, (a strange mingling 
of metaphors,) so that he shall not be found naked, 
that is without a bodily organization. He even 
repeats this sentiment as follows : 

" For we who are in this tabernacle [or l temporary house '] 
do groan, being burdened : not for that we would be unclothed, 
but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up by 
life." 

In this text, he acknowledges his earthly house 
or clothing to be in some sort incommodious ; yet 
he is careful to present the idea, once more, that 
he does not therefore wish to be in an unclothed 
or unsheltered state — he would rather be doubly 
clothed or sheltered than to be thus.* Now if it 
was his belief that in the economy of God all man- 
kind are to become " undressed spirits, 7 ' thus to 
remain until the final termination of human mor- 
tality, how came he to cherish so strong a desire 
against such a state ? 

* " He would much rather be doubly clothed," &c In the Jew- 
ish manner of speaking, a denial followed by an affirmation, or an 
affirmation followed by a denial , is frequently equivalent only to a 
comparison y designed to set forth a strong preference for one of the 
things mentioned. The sentiment of the apostle in the text above 
quoted, is therefore most probably this, and no more than this, that 
he would much sooner choose to be doubly embodied than to be- 
come disembodied, though, as I view the case, he had not faith nor 
fears as to either. Compare Jer. vii. 22, 23, with 1 Sam. xv. 22, 
and Prov. xxi. 3. Also, the first and last half of the verse, in Bos* 
vi 6. 



THE DISEMBODIED STATE, ETC. 197 

3. The text from Paul's writings, — quoted in 
Chap, v., ■ — in which text he assures the Corinthian 
brethren that upon the supposition of there being 
no resurrection of the dead, those having fallen 
asleep in Christ are in a perished state, seems to 
teach, and with entire clearness, that the resurrec- 
tion is indispensably necessary to any after-death 
life ; but this, of course, could not be the true doc- 
trine if it were a fact that the dead are living with- 
out having experienced any resurrection. It is 
therefore claimed that by this text, the common 
doctrine of the disembodied or intermediate state, 
as also, by consequence, that of a simultaneous, 
universal resurrection, are directly and effectually 
negatived. 

It is fully admitted that the Pharisees of our 
Saviour's day held the doctrine of a disembodied 
state. This followed unavoidably from their be- 
lief in a transmigrational terrestrial resurrection 
not always happening very soon after death. It is 
certain, too, that some of the Jews, at a later 
period, held to a simultaneous resurrection of at 
least a certain class of mankind. But the question 
now in hand is not what doctrine was held or 
taught by the rejectors of Christianity, but what 
by Christ, and afterward by His apostles, 



CHAPTER XXII. 

A GENERAL OBJECTION AGAINST MANY OP THE POPULAR 
VIEWS RELATING TO THE RESURRECTION. 

In this chapter, it is proposed to present a couple 
of Scriptural arguments bearing upon a certain 
point, which point, when established, furnishes a 
general objection against all or nearly all the doc- 
trines objected to in the preceding chapters. 

" We have testified of God that He raised up Christ : whom 
He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the 

dead rise not, then is not Christ raised Then those also 

who are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life 
only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most misera- 
ble." 1 Cor. xv. 15-19. 

The above passage was adverted to in our last 
chapter for the purpose of showing that the apos- 
tle considered the resurrection as indispensable to 
the after-death life. It is quoted here for a similar 
purpose — as furnishing convincing proof that the 
resurrection of the dead is in progress. 

We have seen in Chapters xi. ? xii., that the 
dead are in a knowing state ; — they are therefore 
in an unperished state, as a matter of course. Yet 
Paul says of the deceased Christians of that age, 
the ones having " fallen asleep in Christ" which 
here seems to signify having died hoping in Christ, 
— that they " are perished " " if the dead rise not." 



A GENERAL OBJECTION; ETC. 199 

And, surely, the rest of the dead must be quite as 
likely to perish as those are who die in the Lord ; 
therefore, without a resurrection, or something 
quite equivalent to it, there would, according to 
the Scriptures, be no after-death life for any. But 
there scripturally is an after-death life ; and more- 
over, that life is a present verity ; and further, this 
always has been a fact ever since death first enter- 
ed the world; — from all which arises the conclu- 
sion — , to me unavoidable, — that " the dead are 
raised v one after an other, in like manner as the 
living die. 

It will readily be perceived that the doctrine of 
a progressive resurrection stands directly or indi- 
rectly opposed to most or all of the popular doc- 
trines which have been objected to in this work ; 
and that any argument going to establish the doc- 
trine named, must, of course, constitute an objec- 
tion against those alluded to. Thus, 

In regard to the resurrection of the earthly 
body, no stronger argument against it could be 
adduced than would be one which should conclu- 
sively show that the resurrection of the dead is 
progressing. So of the disembodied or interme- 
diate state, — of the literal death of the spirit, — 
of its protracted sleep after the death of the body, 
— and of the loss of immortality in Adam. These 
could in no way be more effectually disproved, than 
by presenting an argument establishing the position 
that the resurrection is now going on, and that the 
same thing was true in the days of the patriarchs. 
The like may be said of the common doctrine of 
two resurrections, as also that of the simultaneous 
rising of all, — with the one or with the other of 
which are connected the popular doctrines of a 
general judgment, of endless punishment, and of 
annihilation in at least two of its forms. Yet the 



200 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

kind of objection above described, bearing directly 
or indirectly against all the doctrines above named, 
the writer has, in previous chapters, aimed wholly 
to omit, choosing to present only such objections 
as are the least intimately related to his own views, 
and endeavoring to examine the opinions of others 
altogether apart from his own. 

2. In the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians, —well 
known to be a professed dissertation upon the re- 
surrection, — the apostle, in the course of his 
remarks, argues thus : 

" As is the earthy, 
such are they also that are earthy ; and 

as is the heavenly, 
such are they also that are heavenly." Verse 48. 

The supplied words in the above-cited text, are 
the second in each line. They are evidently neces- 
sary to the sense, only " is," in the first line, should 
be was, the sense clearly being that 

As Adam was, such are mankind in this mortal 

state ; and 
as Christ is, such are mankind in the immortal 

state. 

That the above is indeed the true sense, is abun- 
dantly manifest from the language of the con 
texts : 

" The first man Adam was made a living soul ; the last 
Adam was made a quickening spirit." Verse 45. 

" The first man is [or was] of the earth, earthy ; the second 
man is the Lord from heaven." Verae 47. 

Note. Some suppose the autographic reading here to have 
been, " The second man is from heaven, heavenly." 

Let us now requote the first-text without the 
supplied words : 



A GENERAL OBJECTION, ETC. 201 

As || the earthy, such || they also that are earthy ; 
and || || 

as || the heavenly, such || they also that are heavenly." 

Note. A literal, though not therefore the best rendering of 
the above, is, 

" As the earthly One, such ones also the earthly ones ; 
and 

as the heavenly One, such ones also the heavenly ones." 

In the text now in hand, the apostle recognizes 
— and, of course, teaches — two special facts. 
The one fact is known by means of the physical 
perceptives directed by reason ; the other, by 
means of the spiritual perceptives directed in a 
like manner. The former is perceived by all men ; 
the latter, by those " to whom it is given." The 
alleged facts follow : 

First. There actually are, in the present time, 
those " there are earthy," — who are " such " as 
was Adam, the first or earthly man. 

Second. There actually are, in the present time, 
that " that are heavenly," — who are " such" as is 
Christ, the second or heavenly man. 

Does any reader fail to perceive that in the lan- 
guage above cited from Paul, the second of the 
above-alleged facts is actually recognized by the 
apostle ? If so, will he please look again, and take 
very special notice whether the apostle does or 
does not say " they also that are heavenly," just 
as plainly and as positively as he says, " they also 
that are earthy ? " 

There can be no dispute that those which the 
apostle here calls " heavenly," are viewed as being 
in the immortal state, in like manner as those 
which he here calls " earthy," are undeniably con- 
sidered as mortal. The heavenly ones — he tells 
us — are "such" as is Christ; and Christ — he 
elsewhere tells us — " being [or having been] rais- 



202 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

ed from the dead, dieth no more ; death hath no 
more dominion over him." 1 

I claim now to have introduced not only infer- 
ential, but also positive proofs, that the resurrec- 
tion or anastasis of the dead is progressing, — 
there now being, according to Scripture testimony, 
immortalized human beings just as certainly as 
there are mortal ones. And I offer these proofs as 
a sweeping objection against the principal doctrines 
objected to in the preceding chapters. 

Sundry objections against the above view of the 
resurrection will be attended to in subseqent chap- 
ters ; and a mass of evidence will be presented in 
its favor. 

Rom. yL 9. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 

Has the subject indicated by the title of this 
chapter any natural connection with the subject of 
the anastasis of the dead? 

We shall see. The writer is confident not only 
that the two subjects are naturally connected, but 
also that they are connected rather closely. The 
reader may not discover any such connection now, 
but perhaps he will in the sequel. 

The commonly received doctrine concerning 
angels, regards them as a separate race of beings, 
higher by creation than man, and of course hold- 
ing no nearer relation to us than that arising out 
of the circumstance of their having had the same 
Creator as ourselves. This seems to have been 
the almost universal belief, both among Christians 
and others, from a very remote period ; but it is 
attended with several weighty objections, of which, 
however, I here mention only the following : 

No account is to be found in the Bible of the 
creation of a race of beings who are angels by 
virtue of their natures. Perhaps the Scripture 
which comes nearest to being such an account, is 
the one containing the incidental remark that God 
" made the axons" which last term the writer hereof 
considers as synonymous — in that text — with the 



204 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

word for angels. It is not at all certain, however, 
that the making, or causing to be, which is men- 
tioned in that text, has reference to making them 
living beings. It is quite as natural to suppose 
that it refers to the making or causing of them to 
be angels. 

In the same connection with the text above 
alluded to, a Scripture from the Psalms is quoted, 
" Who maketh His angels spirits." Had this text 
been put forth upon quite an other subject, and so 
been rendered, according to the primary import of 
the words, " Who maketh His messengers the 
winds," we could not fail of perceiving the sense 
to be this, " Who maketh the winds to be his mes- 
sengers." Accordingly I consider the true sense 
of the text to be the same as if the words were 
arranged thus : " Who maketh spirits his angels, 
— in which case it would be easy to see that the 
text refers — not to their creation as living enti- 
ties, but — to their being put into office as God's 
messengers or representatives. In continuation of 
the same subject, the apostle goes on to speak of 
the angels as being " all " of them "ministering 
spirits ; " 1 and it seems certain that, in this text, 
the apostle really meant to recognize the doctrine 
that celestial angels are angels by virtue of their 
office ; since the word here rendered " ministering" 
properly signifies — not merely serving, but — 
officially serving. 

It has been held that the angels of the Scriptures 
are not real beings, but only appearances, except 
in those texts where human mortals are intended. 
To my mind, an insuperable objection to this opin- 
ion is deducible from a declaration of our Lord 
addressed to the Sadducees. Speaking of mankind 
in general, He says, " In the resurrection they . . . 

1 Heb. i. 2, 7, 14. 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 205 

are as the angels of God in heaven." x Now, un- 
less it was the doctrine of Christ — as every one 
knows it was not — that the departed, when raised 
to an immortal life, are mere appearances, then, 
according to his teachings, angels are not such, 
but are living entities, de facto. And aside from 
this, which, to me, is an irrefragable proof of their 
actual personality, I am entirely sure that — , what- 
ever a philosopher might do, — a plain Bible Chris- 
tian would find it a rather difficult matter to even 
imagine in what way many passages of Scripture 
could be even plausibly interpreted so that they 
would even seem to agree with the doctrine in 
question. 

It has been held also, that all human beings be- 
come angels at death — that 

"How great soe'er their ranks or kinds, 
Angels are but embodied minds ; 
When the partition walls decay, 
Men emerge angels from their clay." 

There are several objections to the doctrine 
that all become angels at death, some of which 
objections seem to me to possess very great force. 
Thus, 

Angels are spiritual servants or helpers. Con- 
cerning them the Scripture teaches, as has been 
already in part quoted, that they are " all" of them 
" ministering [or officially-serving] spirits, sent 
forth to minister for those who " — , as the Com- 
mon Version has it, — " shall be heirs of salvation. " 
Now the sum total of all who have ever died so 
greatly exceeds the whole number now on the 
earth, that to suppose all the dead to be needed in 
the capacity of angels for the purpose mentioned, 
or for human assistance in all scripturally mention- 
ed ways, is to suppose what is utterly unreasonable 
and incredible. 

1 Matt. xxii. 30. 

18* 



206 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

In the memorable conversation of our Lord with 
the Sadducees, — already adverted to, — he de- 
clares concerning human beings, " In the resur- 
rection they are as the angels.' 7 Now had 

He said, " In the resurrection they are angels, the 
doctrine in question might somewhat reasonably 
be considered as thereby proved true. But His 
saying, as he did, that they are as the angels, 
which is to say that they are to some extent like 
them, is manifestly inconsistent with the idea that 
we necessarily become angels by virtue of the 
resurrection. 

As has been observed in Chap, xii., it was actual- 
ly taught by the Saviour that there were at that 
time, " in the presence of the angels of God/ 7 " in 
heaven/' beings who were affected with " joy n at 
the repentance of sinners. 1 But if all human 
beings become angels at death, what beings could 
the Saviour have alluded to ? 

It is also held in regard to spiritual angels, that 
there are evil ones, as well as good ones. This 
dogma lies at the foundation of the common belief 
in a personal spiritual devil ; and it hence is 
found, at least by implication, in the creeds of most 
Christian sects. The nearest approach which the 
language of Scripture makes towards seeming to 
teach this doctrine, is in those two passages where 
mention is made of the deviVs angels, who, of 
course, could be no other than evil ones. 2 But as 
it is not quite certain from the Scriptures, that the 
devil is, or ever was, a spiritual angel himself, the 
assumed fact that his angels are spiritual beings, 
may well be doubted. It is God who makes spirits 
his angels. 

Even allowing that the devil is really just what 

1 Luke xv. 7, 10. 2 Matt. xxv. 41 ; Rev. xii. 7-9. 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 207 

he is commonly supposed to be, it does by no 
means follow that his angels are any thing but 
men, engaged, — knowingly or otherwise. — in the 
devil's cause. In these days, and in full view of 
the common belief, we occasionally hear of " the 
devil's preachers" who — it is asserted — have 
been sent forth by his Diabolic Majesty to pro- 
claim his " devilish " Doctrine. Now admitting 
this to be true of the preachers to whom such 
language is applied, what impropriety — let it be 
asked — could there be in styling those preachers 
the devil's angels or messengers ? 

As with the devil's angels, so with satan's 
ministers , mentioned in a text which will be referred 
to presently. These were obviously men who 
were opposed to pure Christianity ; and the term 
11 satan," in that text, imports, religiously, much 
the same idea as " the opposition " does now, 
politically. 

There are certain passages of Scripture which, 
to many minds, seem to recognize the existence of 
a personal spiritual evil being, belonging to the 
same race of beings as the celestial angels, he 
having once been a celestial angel himself. To 
discuss this topic at length, does not come within 
the scope of this work. I will, however, comment 
as briefly as may be upon a few of the texts that 
are supposed to favor this doctrine ; and I will 
also present two or three objections against it, 
arising mostly from facts that are generally over- 
looked : 

1. Though the Scripture writers sometimes apply 
the word angel to other agents than the angels of 
God in heaven, it is no where said, in the 
ScriptureSj that such so-called angels are devils. 
Thus in 2 Peter, allusion is made to " the angels 
[or messengers] that sinned ;; ; but they are not 



208 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

styled devils, nor is the term satan applied to 
them. So in Jude, allusion is made to " the angels 
[or messengers] who kept not their first estate ; " 
but the passage makes no mention of devils, nor 
of satan. x 

2. In like manner, it is no where taught, in the 
Scriptures, that, in spiritual actuality, either satan 
or the devil, is, or ever w T as, an angel. Paul, 
indeed, speaks of satan's being " transformed [or 
" metamorphosed ;; ] into an angel of light ; " but 
the apostle obviously did not mean to say that 
such metamorphosis had made satan an angel of 
light, any more than he did that satan's " ministers'' 
had become " ministers of righteousness " by a like 
process. Jesus also said, on a certain occasion, 
" I beheld satan as lightning fall from heaven "■ \ 
yet that satan descended from the spiritual heaven, 
any more than the lightning does, is not at all 
intimated, much less is any thing said of his being, 
or having been, one of the angels of God. 2 

3. Were the facts set forth in the two preceding 
paragraphs just the reverse of what they are, it 
would not at all follow that the common doctrine 
on this subject is the Scriptural one. Simon Peter 
and Judas Iscariot were both of them " sent 
forth " by our Lord to preach the gospel ; and 
hence might have been properly called Angels, as 
well as Apostles ; (for the words are of similar im- 
port ;) and yet Jesus addressed Peter as " satan," 
and spoke of Iscariot as being " a devil." 3 Hence 
if it were the case — just as it is not — that, in the 
Scriptures, some angels are styled devils, and the 
devil or satan spoken of as an angel, those facts 
would.be far from proving that there are evil 
angels of the description commonly believed in. 

1 2 Peter ii. 4; Jude 6. 2 2 Cor. xi. 13-15; Luke x. 18. 

3 Matt x. 5; Mark viii. 33; John vi. 70. 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 209 

Besides, the apostle Peter declares of " the 
devil/' that he, " as a roaring lion, walketh about ;V 
and, in the book of Job, " satan " is set forth as 
confessedly in the habit of " going to and fro in 
the earth " ; 1 but the " angels " alluded to by both 
Peter and Jude, in the texts from their epistles 
lately referred to, are represented by those writers 
as being securely- chained up. 

In the Revelation, we read of a certain symbolical 
being who is announced as " the angel of the 
abyss/' (or " of the bottomless pit," as the Com- 
mon Version has it,) and also as the " king " of a 
band of locusts which issued from the smoke of the 
abyss, and came upon the earth as a scourge. But 
though this insect king with his band went forth 

as a destroyer, and hence " in the Greek 

hath his name Apollyon ", (really " Apolluon ", 
from the verb " apollumi ", to destroy,) he is by 
no means described as a diabolical being, but as 
the leader of a host sent forth to execute the 
judgments of God upon certain wicked men, and 
strictly " commanded " not to do " any ; ' of that 
kind of damage usually done by such insects. If, 
therefore, this abyss-angel were set forth by the 
Revelator to be a real entity, the common doctrine 
in reference to evil angels, would not be proved 
true thereby. Nor — , it may be added, — does 
that doctrine derive the least support from any 
reasonable interpretation of the figures. 

The fact that the king of the locusts is set forth 
as " the angel of the abyss/' may lead to an under- 
standing of what was symbolized by the abyss. If 
in this place, as in some other places, the word for 
angel signifies representative, then we have it that 
he was a representative of the plac6 he emerged 
from. And as the name of this Locust Leader was 

11 Peter y. 8; Job i. 7. 



210 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

" Apolluon " or " Destroying One ", which name 
shows him to be a personification of destructiveness, 
or the propensity to destroy, what can the abyss 
be but a symbol of " apoleia" or destruction ? and 
what its being " opened/' but a figure of its dis- 
play in the actions of men ? Note. When those 
under the influence of destructiveness are not 
allowed to " kill," — and this, as we read, was 
the case with those locusts, — in what way does 
the propensity naturally manifest itself but in 
tormenting ? Accordingly, this is just what the 
locusts are here represented as doing. * 

In a subsequent part of the book, the Revelator 
speaks of a certain " beast," as ascending out of 
the abyss, and as going into apoleia; (rendered 
" perdition ;) and in several forms of expression 
occurring afterward, the idea symbolized by the 
figure of destroyers returning to destruction 
whence they came, is plainly set forth. Thus men- 
tion is made of God's being about to " destroy 
those who destroy the earth ;" and it is declared, 
" He who leadeth into captivity, shall go into 
captivity v ; — that is, he who destroy** the liberty 
of others, or causes them to lose it, shall lose his 
own, or have it destroyed ; — also, " He who 
killeth with the sword, must be killed with the 
sword; — all which goes to show that (, with one 
apparent exception,) the word for bottomless pit 
or abyss, and the word for perdition or destruction, 
are, in the Revelation, employed as synonymous 
terms. 2 

The apparent exception above alluded to, is 
where u the dragon " of the Apocalypse is repre- 
sented as being imprisoned in the abyss,; — thus 
making the abyss to be, to him, confinement instead 
of destruction. But confinement is specifically the 

i Key. ix. 1-11. 8 Rev. xi. 7, 18; xiii. 10; xyii. 8, 11. 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 211 

loss or destruction of one's liberty ; so that the 
abyss is actually synonymous with apoleia in this 
text also. 1 

In the history of king Saul, we read that " an 
evil spirit from the Lord troubled him." Now, if 
by an evil spirit is here meant — not a particular 
temper of mind, but — a personal spiritual being, 
then, seeing this spirit was " from the Lord,' 7 we 
ought perhaps to infer that the existence of 
spiritual evil angels is truly a Scriptural doctrine, 
even if its opposite is such also. I believe, how- 
ever, that some good commentators consider this 
evil spirit to have been a hypochondriacal state of 
mind ; and that its being said to be " from the 
Lord ", imports that it came upon him as a punish- 
ment. That Saul's affliction was thought at the 
time to be some sort of illness, whatever was 
thought as to its cause, appears plainly enough 
from his advisers' recommending music as a remedy, 
assuring him that thereby he should become 
" well," which assuring, as we learn, proved to be 
well founded: 

" And it came to pass when the evil spirit from God was 
upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand : 
so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit de- 
parted from him.'' 1 Sam. xvi. 14-23. 

In the history of king Ahab, mention is made of 
"a. lying spirit," who " stood before the Lord" in 
heaven, and was sent to the earth on professional 
business. But the passage is evidently a parable, 
and even has its moral lesson plainly expressed. 

Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehosaphat, king of 
Judah, proposed going to battle against the 
Syrians. J. said, " Inquire, I pray thee, at the 
word of the Lord to-day." A. assembled the 
prophets, — four hundred or so, — who all said, 

i Rev. xx. 1-7. 



212 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

" Go up to Ramoth-Gilead, and prosper : for the 
Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.' 7 
J. then said, "Is there not here a prophet of the 
Lord besides, that we might inquire of him " ? 
A. mentioned one " Micaiah v ; but added, " I 
hate him ; for he never prophesied good to me, but 
always evil. 77 The prophet was however sent for ; 
and on being questioned as to whether they would 
do well to go, or not, he also answered, though 
evidently in a tone of manifest irony, " Go ye up, 
and prosper,' 7 <fec. — echoing, as we may say, the 
words of the other prophets. A. then said to 
him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou 
say nothing but the truth to me in the name of 
the Lord ? M. made answer in the following 
parable : 

" I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep 
that have no shepherd : and the Lord said, These have no 
master ; let them return therefore every man to his house in 
peace." 

Ahab now said to Jehosaphat, " Did I not tell 
thee that he would not prophesy good to me, but 
evil ? Micaiah replied in the words of the passage 
in question : 

" Therefore hear the word of the Lord : I saw the Lord 
sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on 
his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, " Who 
shall entice [or " persuade "} Ahab, king of Israel, that he 
may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead ? and one spoke saying 
after this manner, and an other, saying after that manner. 
Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and 
said, I will entice [or " persuade "] him. And the Lord said 
to him, Wherewith ? And he said, I will go out, and be a lying 
spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, 
Thou shalt entice [or "persuade"] him, and thou shalt also 
prevail : out, and do even so." 

The moral of this parable, and indeed of the 
other also, immediately follows, in these w T ords : 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 213 

" Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in 
the mouth of these [or " all these " ] thy prophets, and the 
Lord hath spoken evil against thee." 

Now, as regards the question who or what this 
lying spirit was, I consider the above account to 
import simply this, that Ahab's prophets were all 
actuated by a lying disposition. Each prophet had 
thus his own spirit of falsehood to move him. But 
how could an individual personal being have been 
in the mouths of so many men at once ? 1 

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, in the 
course of an argument designed to show, Scriptural- 
ly, that Jesus Christ is much higher in office than 
are the angels, puts forth the following language, 
upon which language I base an argument against 
the existence of evil spiritual angels, which argu- 
ment is, .to me, perfectly conclusive : 

" But to which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on my 
right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool ? Are 
they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those 
who shall be heirs of salvation ? " Heb. i. 13, 14. 

In this passage, Jive things are particularly to 
be observed : 

1. The latter question, " Are they not all " &c, 
is fully equivalent to an affirmation, — its sense 
manifestly being that they all are what it is asked 
if they are not. 

2. The angels are not only described as u sent 
forth," that is, as being each a messenger, which is 
the original signification of angel, but they are 
also described as " spirits." 

3. They are declared to be "ministering" or 
serving spirits, which is the same as saying that 
they are spiritual servants or helpers. 

1 2 Chron. xviiL 3-27- 1 Kings xxii. 4-28*. 

19 



214 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD. 

4. Their business is " to minister for v the per- 
sons mentioned, not against them. 

5. It is taught that the spiritual angels are " all n 
of them such as are therein described. 

From the foregoing results the following : * 

Spiritual angels are all good beings. 



r CHAPTER XXIV. 

CONCERNING ANGELS — CONTINUED. 

In regard to the official business or occupation 
of angels, it appears that, according to the Scrip- 
tures, they have been sent from God to man on 
various errands; yet, as I view Ethe case, all 
such errands relate (, though some of them rather 

remotely,) to one and the same great End, the 

progress and elevation of the human race, physi- 
cally, mentally, morally, and religiously, through the 
general diffusion of Christianity with its attendant 
influences, as the great Means among those insti- 
tuted by the universal Father for the promotion of 
that end. 

Among the recorded occasions upon which 
angels have appeared, may be reckoned the follow- 
ing: 

^ The conveying of intelligence concerning com- 
ing events of personal and general interest ; as to 
Abraham, Daniel, Zacharias, Mary, and John the 
Revelator ; — 

The deliverance of some from perilous circum- 
stances, and the preservation of others in situa- 
tions of danger ; as of Peter from prison, and of 
Daniel among the lions ; — 

The soothing, encouraging, and strengthening, 
of persons in extreme trouble ; as of Paul, when 



216 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

about to be shipwrecked ; and of Jesus in Gethse- 
mane, when about to surrender himself, in com- 
pliance with the will of God, to a violent and most 
ignominious death ; — 

The annunciation of important existing facts ; 
as the birth of the Saviour, to certain shepherds 
near Bethlehem ; his resurrection to some of the 
female disciples at his tomb ; — 

And so forth ; &c. 

I consider it to be not at all improbable also, 
when taken in connection with other facts, that the 
repentance or reformation of sinners (, which — , 
startling as the announcement may seem, — the 
Saviour actually assures us causes "joy" even "in 
heaven/') is made known to the heavenly inhabi- 
tants by angels. 1 

It appears, too, from the Scriptures, that angels 
have sometimes exerted a powerful influence over 
human mortals without making themselves — and 
perhaps without making the fact of their influence 

— known to the persons over whom such influence 
has been exerted. Thus an angel, in conversation 
with the prophet Daniel, claimed to have confirm- 
ed and strengthened " Darius, the Mede," " in the 
first year " of his reign, 2 which year included the 
time — or was but a little antecedent to the time 

— when Daniel, through the envy, malice, and cun- 
ning, of his inferiors in office, was cast into a den 
of lions, with the intent that he should be devour- 
ed. Now this was sorely against the will of the 
king ; but he had been entrapped into making of a 
law with that penalty, and, as it would seem, was 
constitutionally deprived of both the repealing and. 
the pardoning power; and Daniel having certainly 
violated the law, it could not well be otherwise 
than that its penalty must be inflicted upon him. 

1 Luke xv. 7, 10, 2 Dan. xi. 1. 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 217 

And we read that when he found it was impractica- 
ble for him to save Daniel, he addressed this re- 
markable language to him: — language which it 
might seem hardly credible should have proceeded 
from the mouth of a heathen, were we not also 
told that, at or about that time, an angelic influence 
was being exerted over him : — " Thy God, whom 
thou servest continually," said he to Daniel, " he 
will deliver thee" l * 

What concerning "guardian angels?" 
The Scriptures are not altogether silent upon the 
subject of angelic guardianship, though not so full 
and explicit as perhaps would seem to us desira- 
ble. 

The guardianship of angels over some persons, 
and this by the express appointment of God, is 
obviously promised in the simple language of one 
of the Psalms, an extract from which is given, be- 
low, and a small part of which is quoted in Matt. 
iv. 6, and in Luke iv. 10, 11 : 

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night ; nor for the 
arrow that flieth by day . nor for the pestilence that walketh in 
darkness ; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day. A 
thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right 

hand ; but it shall not come nigh thee There shall no 

evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwell- 
ing. For He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee 
in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest 
thou dash thy foot against a stone." Ps. xci. 5-12. 

The doctrine of the existence of guardian angels 
is at least favored by the second dream of King' 
Nebuchadnezzar, which dream the prophet Daniel 
recognized as " showing the decree of the Most 

1 Dan. vi. 16. 

* " He will deliver thee." This, perhaps, should be rendered in- 
terrogatively; as M Will He not deliver thee? " But thus rendered 
the speech of Darius is still very remarkable. 

19* 



218 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

High." In this dream of the king, " a watcher and 
a holy one came down from heaven/' &c.i (See 
the account.) 

As relating in a direct manner to the subject in 
hand, let us now once more advert to that text 
which teaches that angels are all of them minister- 
ing or officially-serving spirits, sent forth to minis- 
ter for those who — , according to the common 
rendering, — shall be heirs of salvation. What 
less can be meant in this text, than that at least a 
share of the business of angels on earth, is to do 
for, or attend on, or in some way serve, the per- 
sons therein intended ? 

In a certain place, the Saviour exhorts and de- 
clares as follows : 

" Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones ; for 
I say to you that in heaven their angels [, or their angels in 
heaven,] do always behold the face of my Father who is in 
heaven." Matt, xviii. 10. 

In this text, the phrase " little ones " must mean 
either children, in the household sense, or else 
those persons of maturer age who, in the Scriptur- 
ally intended sense, have become " as " children 
See the context. But understanding the phrase 
this way, or that way, affects not the point now in 
hand. Nothing can be clearer than the fact that, 
according to the Saviour, there were at that time 
some on earth who had angels in heaven ! In 
other words, there were angels then whose home 
was in heaven, and who at the same time were, in 
some proper sense, the angels of the little ones in 
mention. Or, there were angels in heaven, and 
there were little ones on earth ; and it was a fact 
in relation to these earth-dwelling ones, that at 
that very time some of the angels mentioned were 
*• their angels." 

1 Dan iv. 13, 24, &c. 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 219 

In the text now under consideration, what de- 
scription of angels can have been meant other than 
guardian angels — " watchers/' put in " charge " 
of the individuals intended — " ministering spirits, 
sent forth to minister for " them, as their particular 
circumstances might at any time require ? 

As to which are meant in the text alluded to, 
children, or Christians, it may be observed that 
our Lord, in addressing his disciples on that occa- 
sion, had been mentioning children, he having 
placed a child in their midst, having spoken of be- 
coming as children, and having assured them that 
that person is greatest in heaven's kingdom who 
humbles himself as a child, &c. (The Common 
Version has it " little child," " little children.") He 
then, in three texts, — the one that has been quot- 
ed, an other, soon to be quoted, and a third, in the 
same connection, — speaks in an especial manner 
concerning "little ones," using — not, as He had 
been doing, the word for children, but — the plural 
of mikros, little, — a term having no special relation 
to children, any more than to other small entities. 

In the text now about to be quoted, he, by a 
proper rendering, expressed himself thus : 

" But whoever shall insnare one of these little ones, the ones 
believing in me, [or who believe in me,] it were better for him 
that an upper millstone were hanged about his neck," &c. 

The explanatory expression in this text, " The 
ones believing in me" seems pretty clearly to indi- 
cate that by the " little ones" in the text before 
quoted, the one having angels in heaven ready to 
do for them at any time what their needs might 
require, the . Saviour had particular reference to 
Christian believers. By adopting this view of the 
subject, that strange text mentioning the Apostle 
Peter's u angel," becomes divested of its strange- 
ness entirely. 



220 THE ANASTASIS OP THE BEAD. 

Peter had been put into prison, and committed 
to the care of four times four soldiers, as special 
keepers — probably twice, if not four times, the 
usual number. This the Christians all seem to 
have known ; and they offered unceasing prayers 
in his behalf. One night, as has been intimated, 
he was released from prison ; and proceeding to 
the house of John Mark, where a numerously 
attended prayer meeting was being held, he 
knocked at the gate or outer door for admittance. 
On his voice being recognized, the overjoyed 
portress, forgetting to admit him, ran hastily in, 
and announced that Peter was without. They at 
first charged her with being insane ; then said, " It 
is his angel " ; but were soon most delightfully 
".astonished v at finding it to be Peter himself. 1 
Now what could those Christians have meant by 
Peter's " angel ", other than one of those angels 
whom Jesus had spoken of as being in some pro- 
per sense the angels of those persons whom He 
was pleased to denominate " little ones " ? 

It may be proper to offer some remarks upon the 
latter part of that text mentioning " those who 
shall be heirs of salvation." The common render- 
ing of the text was doubtless put forth in view of 
that now somewhat antiquated doctrine which 
teaches that only a select number of the human 
race were ever designed to be the recipients of 
salvation in the immortal state. But supposing 
that that doctrine were indisputably the] doctrine 
of the author of this text, the common translation 
of the text is not the less faulty. In the Greek, 
the proper future tense does not there occur. The 
expression might be rendered " who are about to 
be heirs/' or " who were about to be heirs ", but 
not properly " who shall be heirs." Nor is the 

iActsxii. 1-19, 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 221 

one, nor the other of these rival renderings, un- 
questionably the right one. In suitable juxtaposi- 
tion, the Greek phrase in question might mean 
11 those intending ", " those preparing/' " those de- 
laying," or " those desiring to be heirs." 

Again. The word rendered " salvation " may 
or may not have reference to the future state ; and, 
having relation to assistance in general, it may 
import either deliverance, preservation, restoration, 
or protection, according to the manner of its 
application, and the subject to which it is applied. 
So also, though the special sense of the word 
rendered "to be heirs" is to receive by heirship 
or inheritance, it may — and sometimes does — 
signify to receive in some other manner. 

If, therefore, the following proposed rendering 
shall be very seriously objected to, the proposer 
thereof will be very far from being very greatly 
surprised : 

" But to what one of the angels did He at any time say, 
* Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy 
footstool ?' Are they not all officially-serving spirits, sent 
forth into service for those desiring to receive assistance ?" 
Heb. i. 13, 14. 

Have all persons angelic guardians ? 

To me, the Scriptures do not seem to speak in a 
direct manner concerning this. As I view the case, 
whatever they teach upon this subject they teach 
by mere implication. 

If the common rendering of the text which 
mentions "ministering spirits" were certainly 
correct, the fair inference from that text would be, 
that some certainly will not be " heirs of salva- 
tion ", and that such persons lack spiritual helpers 
entirely — a perfectly consistent arrangement, since 
if I am not to be saved, what good could " twelve 



222 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

legions of angels " do me as regards salvation ? 
But I can not accept that rendering as expressive 
of the Scriptural sense intended ; and as I under- 
stand the text, no such narrow inference can be 
fairly deduced from it. 

In that text where mention is made of " little 
ones " and " their angels/' it is well worthy of ob- 
servation (, and no one can fail to observe it who 
will use his observing powers,) that the Saviour is 
not announcing, in a direct manner, the fact that 
such have angels. He speaks as if that fact were 
understood and admitted, — and so proceeds to 
put forth a declaration concerning the dignity — , 
so to speak, — of their angels, when compared 
with those of others. As if He had said, with 
expressive emphasis upon certain words, " Be 
cautious as to undervaluing my humble followers ; 
for I assure you that their angels are recognized in 
heaven as angels of the highest rank : " 

" Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones ; for 
I say to you that in heaven their angels do always, " &c. 

May not others have angels of a grade suitable 
to their moral standing ? 

So in regard to the passage quoted from the 
Psalms. If, in reading that passage, a proper 
emphasis shall be placed upon the right words, it 
will be perceived that the promise to an individual 
of a certain character, that God will give his 
angels charge over him, &c, does by no means 
imply the entire absence of a like charge over those 
not possessing that character in full perfection : 

" There shall no evil befall thee He shall give 

His angels charge over thee,- to keep thee in all thy ways." 
And so of the rest. 

May not others be in charge of angels to a less 
extent ? 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 223 

The powers or capabilities of angels are, of 
course, to be learned mainly from the Scripture 
accounts of their doings. 

That they have exercised the gift of prophecy, 
has been abundantty shown by adverting to com- 
munications made to Abraham, Daniel, and others. 

That they possess the faculty of speech, or at 
least of producing impressions upon the human 
brain identical with those we receive from 
articulate sounds, appears from many instances. 
The angel who released Peter from prison, spoke to 
him, bidding him rise, gird himself, dress his feet, 
put on his mantle, and follow him. An angel 
addressed the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem 
in articulate language; and voices, as of a multi- 
tude, were heard by them, praising God in words 
which were not only heard, but understood. 1 

That they are possessed of physical strength, or 
at least of that which seems identical with it, ap- 
pears not only from the release of Peter, as just 
adverted to, but also from a previous similar 
release of all the apostles, concerning which it is 
related that " the angel of the Lord by night 
opened the prison doors, and conducted them 
forth." An angel also " rolled back the stone 
from the door " of the tomb where the body of 
Jesus had been deposited. 2 

That they are able to control the movements, if 
not the volitions, of even ferocious beasts, appears 
from the account given by Daniel as to the means 
by wkich he was preserved from harm while con- 
fined all one night with lions. Said he to king 
Darius, " My God hath sent His angel, and hath 
shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt 
me." 3 

1 Acts xii. 7-10; Luke ii. 10-14. 2 Acts v. 19; Matt, xxviii. 2. 
3 Dan. vi. 22. 



224 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD. 

That they have the power of neutralizing the 
action of the most powerful chemical agents, 
would seem to be shown by the circumstance that 
when, by command of king Nebuchadnezzar, 
Daniel's three friends were cast into a heated 
furnace, from which they afterward came out un- 
burned, a fourth was seen in the furnace with 
them, and the king said, u Blessed be the God of 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ivho hath sent 
His angel, and delivered his servants who trusted 
in him." 1 

That they are capable of unfavorably affecting the 
conditions upon which bodily health and life depend, 
appears from various Scripture accounts. A king 
of Assyria came against Judea, with intent to take 
Jerusalem, and subjugate the nation ; but " the 
angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the 
camp of the Assyrians " 185,000 men ; and the 
king abandoned the enterprise. Concerning one 
of the Herods, it is related that an angel " smote 
him," and he soon expired. 2 

Some are strangely desirous of accounting for 
these and similar events without angelic agency. 
We are accordingly told concerning the account of 
Herod's death, that the language employed is only 
the Jewish manner of saying that God inflicted a 
disease upon him. I submit whether it is not a 
manner — , Jewish or otherwise, — of saying that 
God inflicted a disease upon him through the agency 
of an angel. So it has been taught that the angel 
who smote so many to death in Sennacherib's arrmy, 
was only the poisonous wind from the desert. 
Now, admitting the wind to have been present, — 
and perhaps it was, — may not that be more pro- 
properly deemed the instrument wielded by the 
angel in smiting them ? 

} Dan. iii. 28. 2 Isa. xxxyii. 36 j Acts xii. 23. 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 225 

That angels are capable (, as even reason 
teaches,) of affecting the health of human beings 
favorably as well as unfavorably, appears, Scrip- 
turally, not only from the language of the 91st 
Psalm, quoted while on the subject of guardian 
angels,) but also from an account in the New 
Testament, that, at certain seasons, the pool of 
Bethesda in Jerusalem was rendered sanative by 
an angel. 1 

That angels can exert an imperceptible influence 
over human beings, as has been before observed, 
appears not only from the case of king Darius, 
already adverted to, but from that of Cyrus also. 
We read that in the first year of the reign of 
Cyrus, and in order " that the word of the Lord by 
the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled/' relative 
to the Jew r s being captives in Babylon seventy 
years, and then being released from captivity, " the 
Lord stirred up the spirit " of the king in such a 
manner, and to such an extent, that he issued a 
proclamation for their return to their own land, 
and for the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem. 2 

That the Divine Being, in moving the mind of 
king Cyrus to do what had been predicted should 
be done, really acted upon him by angelic agency r 
appears plainly from what an angel told Daniel in 
relation to Cyrus : 

" The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one 
and twenty days : but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, 
came to help me ; and I remained there with the kings of 
Persia." Dan. x. 13. 

What — if any thing — concerning the late so- 
called " spiritual manifestations " ? 

If such phenomena, in whole, or in part, are any 
thing better than a sheer delusion, then ; in whole. 

1 John v» 4* 2 Ezra i. 1-4. 

20 



226 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

or in part, they are not only a species of Divine 
revelation, — a continuation of the ancient ministry 
of angels, — but they are actually an outgrowth — 
so to speak, — of Christianity itself, — are parts 
and parcels of that " manifestation of the Spirit " 
which an apostle said was given to every man to 
profit withal ; — are included in those " gifts/' 
" diversities of gifts/' "differences of administra- 
tions", and " diversities of operations/' mentioned 
and alluded to by that apostle and others ; — yea, 
they are granted in the manner, by the authority, 
and for the purposes, set forth in the Scriptures 
referred to below. 1 But as regards the "if" at 
the commencement of this paragraph, let each de- 
cide for him or her self; and may God preserve 
us from delusion, — may He keep us from un- 
reasonable incredulity. 

i 1 Cor. xii. 4-11, 28-31; Epli. iv. 7-16; Horn. xii. 6-8; 1 Pet. iv. 
10, 11; Johnxiv. 12. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



CONCERNING ANGELS — CONCLUDED . 

As regards the nature of angels, which is to say 
their mode of being, I take the ground that they 
exist each in a spiritual, incorruptible, immortal 
organization, as distinguished from that of Man in 
the earth-life, whose bodily organism is described 
in the Scriptures as u natural,' 7 or rather animal, — 
as " corruptible ", and also " mortal/' 

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, when 
speaking of Christ as having been in some sense 
inferior to the angels, mentions his partaking of 
flesh and blood like other persons, so that thus he 
might die, — which the angels can not, — and 
might deliver others from that bondage caused by 
the fear of death. He then, by a literal rendering, 
makes this observation, in which it is obvious that 
the true subject of the verb is death : 

" For doubtless it [that is, " death "] takes not hold of 
angels ; but of the posterity of Abraham it takes hold." 
Heb. ii. 16. 

In this text, the idea sought to be illustrated by 
the apostle, — namely this, — that Christ was " a 
little lower than the angels," in that they are not 
subject to death, but He, being of the posterity of 
Abraham, was thus subject, is in no small degree 



228 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

obscured by the common rendering, though per- 
haps not eclipsed totally : 

" For verily he took not on Mm the nature of angels ; but 
he took on Mm the seed of Abraham." (Common Version.) 

Prom the Scripture accounts of the doings of 
angels, as for example, their speaking, their mani- 
festing physical strength, &c, the fact of their 
possessing some kind of bodily organization would 
seem to be abundantly manifest ; but whether such 
organization were permanent, or were only 
assumed for the several occasions respectively, 
might not perhaps be entirely clear. The Scrip- 
tures do not, however, leave us altogether in the 
dark upon this subject. In that memorable con- 
versation of our Lord with the Sadducee doctors, 
the terms in which he speaks of the condition of 
human beings in the resurrection state, seem cal- 
culated to teach us somewhat concerning the 
organization of angels : 

" In the resurrection they are as the angels of 

God in heaven." Matt. xxii. 30. 

" Neither can they die any more ; for they are equal to [or 
"like"] the angels." Luke xx. 35, 36. 

By " children of the resurrection v are un- 
deniably meant those who have been raised. Such 
— the Saviour assures us — can not die. They are 
therefore properly immortal. That we shall have 
bodies in the resurrection state as truly as we have 
here f will be by few — if by any — disputed. Our 
present bodies are Scripturally denominated 
" mortal bodies/' and we can die ; yea, as the 
Scripture also has it, " we must needs die "; 1 and, 
of course, we shall die. In the resurrection state 
we shall not die ; yea, we can not die ; — shall we 
not then possess immortal bodies? 

1 Rom. yiii. 11 ; 2 Sam. xiv. 14. 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 229 

One of the given reasons why the children of 
the resurrection can not die, is, that they are like 
the angels. Now it can not but be true that just 
as far as we when raised shall be like angels, so far 
the angels now are like what we shall be when 
raised. It is Scripturally incontrovertible, then, 
that angels possess permanent bodies, spiritual, 
incorruptible, immortal, glorious, &c., as is or will 
be the case with human beings having passed the 
resurrection. 

What as to the origin of angels ? 

Though I regard as erroneous the doctrine that 
all the departed become angels at death, and even 
the poetic fancy that all the good, and even all the 
innocent, become such at death, I am till con- 
strained to the belief that angels are departed 
human beings. I deem that this view of their 
origin is not only in harmony with all that the 
sacred historians narrate concerning angels, — not 
only rendered highly probable by fair legitimate 
inferences from a great variety of Scriptural facts 
and statements; — but also, that it is directly 
taught in the Scriptures, and taught too in very 
express terms. 

In the book of " The Revelation of Jesus 
Christ," — erroneously styled " The Revelation of St. 
John the Divine",— one of the angels (, if not also 
an other,) who showed and communicated various 
things to John, said afterward to him, " I am thy 
fellow-servant' 7 — to which is added, in one text, 
" and of thy brethren the prophets," — in an 
other, " and of those who have the testimony of 
Jesus. 77 What less can either of these declarations 
be rightfully taken for, than as a distinct ac- 
knowledgment, on the part of the speaker, that 
he himself was a human being, and that he had 

20* 



230 THE ANASTA8IS OF THE DEAD, 

been a person in the flesli? (See Rev. xxii. 9; 
xix. 10.) 

To this it will be at once objected, by some, that 
the Revelation is a book of Allegories ; and hence 
that, as testimony in this case, a quotation from 
that book can not properly be admitted. 

In answer to this objection, I remark as follows: 

The book of the Revelation, though mostly 
allegorical, — professedly so,™ is not of that char- 
acter icholly. It contains accounts of various 
visionary scenes ; and it abounds in highly figura- 
tive language ; and no intelligent person supposes 
that the texts describing such scenery, and 
couched in such language, (and these, by the way, 
make up the most of the book,) ought to be 
literally taken in proof of the truth of any doc- 
trine. Yea, it being a fact that the visions are 
seemingly of doubtful interpretation, their intro- 
duction at all, as testimony upon a disputed point, 
if not of doubtful propriety, is at least of doubtful 
utility. But it is a fact notwithstanding all this, 
that the book is partly of an historical and didac- 
tic character, ,not any more metaphorical than 
are most other parts of the Scriptures ; and I 
claim that what I have quoted from the book be- 
longs to an historical and didactic portion of it ; 
and that its language should therefore be taken in 
the usual sense of such expressions. 

Let us consider this point more at length. 

The book commences thus : 

" The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, 
to show to his servants things which must shortly come to 
pass ; and He sent and signified it by his angel to his servant 
John: who bore record of the word of God, and of the testi- 
mony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw." 

I take it upon me to affirm that unless the whole 
book is a mere myth, or collection of myths, the 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 231 

passage above cited is an historical one, and pre- 
sents literal truths, — some of which truths are, 
that God had given a revelation to Jesus Christ; 
that such revelation was subsequently communi- 
cated to John, to be by him communicated to 
others ; and that at least the principal medium of 
communication to John was an angel. 

Take now a. passage from near the close of the 
book, after the account of the visions is concluded, 
— the description of the things seen and heard 
" in spirit" finished : 

"And he said to me, " These sayings are faithful and true: 
and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show 
to His servants the things which must shortly be done." 
xxii. 6. 

Some of the angels seen by John in vision were 
likely symbolical personages ; yet in the text just 
cited, it is most certainly taught that a real, 
spiritual, celestial angel of God, — (an angel even 
of Him who is styled " the Lord God of the holy 
prophets," — ) was really and personally employed 
in the communication of at least some of the things 
therein revealed. 

It is indeed said in the same chapter with the 
above, " I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify to 
you these things in the churches ;" and this angel 
may be thought to be John, sent as the accredited 
messenger or representative of Jesus Christ to the 
said churches. Such an interpretation of this text 
would be in perfect keeping with the fact that the 
seven messages sent are not addressed to the 
seven churches respectively, but to their respec- 
tive angels or representatives. But if this inter- 
pretation were without doubt the true one, that 
fact would not at all invalidate the fact presented 
in even the first verse of the book, that the 
" revelation" presented in the book was " signi- 



232 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

fied" to John by an " angel/' and that that angel 
was " sent" from either Christ or God. 

Now take what presently follows the averment 
that " the Lord God of the holy prophets" had 
sent his angel ? &c. 

" And I John saw these things and heard them. And when 
I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of 
the angel who showed me these things. Then saith he to me," 
&c. xxii. 8, 9. 

With this compare a passage from chapter 1 : 
(verses 9, 10.) 

" I John, who also am your brother and companion in tribu- 
lation, was in the isle called Patmos I was 

in the spirit on the Lord's day/' &c. (Literally, " in spirit." 
So also in chapter iv. 2 j xxi. 10.) 

As this last quoted passage is evidently an his- 
torical one, so also is the other. The style of the 
two is precisely similar, and is quite diverse from 
that of the main body of the book. If the quo- 
tation from the first chapter is not an historical 
passage, the book is evidently a fiction. But the 
same may be said in regard to the quotation from 
the last chapter ; for the dictional character of the 
two is the same. When, therefore, the Revelator 
says, " And I John saw these things," &c, we may 
be sure that he has dropped the allegorical mode 
of expression, and is communicating in a plain, 
narratory, matter-of-fact style and manner. 

Let us now re-quote our main proof-text, with 
its connections, and also present the parallel 
passage. Whether the two passages are the words 
of one and the same angel, (said, and afterwards, 
in substance, re-said,) or whether they are the 
utterances of two different angels, is probably 
now impossible for any one certainly to decide ; 
nor perhaps is the solution of this question a 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 233 

matter of any great importance. Those having 
" the testimony of Jesus" are clearly the Chris- 
tians of that age ; and if by " the prophets" are 
meant persons prophesying before the advent of 
Christ ; then the two passages are the utterances 
of two angels. But to the quotations : 

" And I John saw these things and heard them. And when I 
had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the 
angel who showed me these things. Then saith he to me, 
' See thou do it not : for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy 
brethren the prophets, and of those, who keep the sayings of 
this book : worship God." Rev. xxii. 8, 9. 

" And I fell at his feet to worship hirn. And he said to me, 
* See thou do it not : I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy 
brethren who have the testimony of Jesus : worship God ; for 
the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rev. xix. 10. 

Whatever any other person or persons may 
think in regard to the teachings of the passages 
just cited, the writer hereof thinks, and believes, 
and is sure, that those passages teach, distinctly 
and positively, that at least one of those whom the 
Saviour denominates " the angels of God in 
heaven," belongs to the human race ! And if one, 
then others, then all ; — (why not?) — I therefore 
receive, and believe, and hold fast, as a Bible 
truth, the doctrine that each of the spiritual ce- 
lestial angels mentioned in Scripture, was once a 
human mortal on the earth. 

In considering the doctrine that all become 
angels at death, I adduced as an objection the 
language of Christ in reference to the departed, 
that they are as the angels. This I deem a valid 
objection against that doctrine ; but no objection 
at all against the doctrine that some of the depart- 
ed are appointed to that office. In regard to their 
organization, or mcde of existence, all are as the 
angels, and the angels are as all ; but not .all are 
angels, since only a comparatively small number 
can possibly be needed in that capacity. 



234 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

Certain Scriptures are supposed to recognize 
the existence of various races of angels ; but it is 
quite as natural an understanding of those texts 
to consider them expressive of different degrees 
of official rank, as it is to consider them declarative 
of different grades 6f being. What is said of 
Michael, the archangel, does not necessarily lead 
to the conclusion that he belongs to a higher 
race of beings than do his fellow-angels. 

The Scripture testimony herein presented from 
the Revelation, being direct, is, with the writer of 
this, sufficient to fully settle the question as to the 
origin of angelic beings ; but he adds the following 
indirect evidence, for the benefit of such, if any, 
as may need it. 

The fact that the Scriptures contain no histori- 
cal account of the creation of angels, as such, 
seems to be a fair and legitimate argument, of con- 
siderable force, in favor of the doctrine herein ad- 
vanced, that angels are departed human beings. 

The fact that in the early history of the human 
race contained in the book of Genesis, no account 
is given, for many years, of the appearance of any 
angels, has been adduced (by some one) as an 
argument in favor of their Adamic origin. 

The fact that celestial angels have always ap- 
peared in human form, and are, in the Scriptures, 
sometimes even called " men," may have some 
proper bearing upon this subject. 

By supposing angels to have once been human 
mortals, the circumstance of their having always 
manifested a very great degree of interest in the 
well-being of mankind, is more naturally and fully 
accounted for than it is upon any other theory. 

In the light of this doctrine, certain questions 
of considerable interest to most persons, are quite 



CONCERNING ANGELS. 235 

as readily and satisfactorily answered as they can 
be by adopting some other view of the subject : 

1. In the heavenly life, shall we remember hav- 
ing existed here ? 

Most certainly we shall. Did not the angel who 
declared himself to be of the number of John's 
brethren that had " the testimony of Jesus/ 9 re- 
member having been a Christian believer and wit- 
ness on earth ? 

2. Shall we recognize, and be recognized by, 
those whom we have known, and who have known 
us, in the earth life ? 

This much must be true — almost certainly, 
more. Those who come after us we shall re- 
cognize ; those who have gone before us will 
recognize us. Was not the Revelator known by 
his angel-brother? Did not Stephen know the 
Saviour when, by spiritual sight, he saw him in 
heaven? When Christ appeared to John in 
Patmos, was not the recognition mutual? 

3. In the spirit world, shall we know any thing 
of the affairs of earth? 

We shall know concerning the affairs of the 
earth-world all that will be desirable to be known. 
Much in which mortals feel the most intense in- 
terest, will doubtless be estimated by us at about 
the rate we now estimate those things and events 
which are the most interesting to very young 
children. We shall rejoice over the repentance of 
sinners, — shall know, of course, that there are 
sinful practices here, and also what they are, — 
shall be aware of the sad consequences of wrong- 
doing, in both an individual and a social point of 
view, — shall be cognizant of the progress of 
human reform, in all its branches, aspects, and 
bearings, — shall not be ignorant as to who are 
engaged in the promotion of that cause, &c, &c. ; 



236 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

— which manifestly supposes some acquaintance 
with many things and matters appertaining to 
terrestrial affairs. 

4. Shall we sometimes visit the earth sphere ? 

We may, if we are permitted ; we shall, if we 
are sent ; we shall be sent, if that shall be 
necessary ; and in such an event we shall be 
angels, as truly as is Gabriel, at least until our 
mission is accomplished. 

It will now be perceived — , and, as T trust, with 
entire clearness, — that, allowing the origin of 
angelic beings to be such as is herein argued, a 
very intimate connection exists between the Scrip- 
ture doctrine concerning angels, and the Scripture 
doctrine concerning the anastasis of the dead. 
The Scriptures undeniably teach that human beings 
in the resurrection world are as the angels, or like 
them; and now, if angels are departed human 
beings, then the angels are human beings who 
have been raised. The existence of angels, then, 
is not only a proof of an after-death life for man, 

— which, by the way, is a fact not generally 
recognized, — but it is also, in a multitude of 
instances, a manifest verification of the occurrence 
of that process denominated anastasis. The Sad- 
ducees, who denied any anastasis of the dead, 
were consistent in denying also the existence of 
angels. 

If the Scriptures really teach that angels are 
human beings who have passed the resurrection, 
then, to be consistent, they should also teach that 
the resurrection of at least some human beings 
takes place soon after the death of the body. To 
show that the Scriptures do actually teach such 
a resurrection for mankind at large, will be the 
subject of the next three or four chapters. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION. 

It is related of the great Teacher, that being in 
and near Jerusalem during the last few days of His 
mortal life, He was attacked, polemically, by the 
chief Priests, the Scribes, the Elders of the peo- 
ple, the Herodians, the Pharisees, and the Sad- 
ducees, — each party, in turn, endeavoring, by art- 
ful questions, to draw Him into saying something 
that might be brought, as an accusation, against 
him. 

The Sadducees, as we have seen, denied there 
being any resurrection — a denial which our Lord, 
in his reply to them, treats as equivalent to si 
denial that there is any life for man after the death 
of the body. It will be recollected, too, that 
Josephus represents them as holding that when 
the body dies the soul dies with it. (Sec Chap. i. 
of this work.) They appear to have taken the 
ground that the Jewish Scriptures, particularly the 
writings of Moses, are silent as to any after-death 
life, — therefore that such a life is not. 

The Sadducee doctors had invented, as it would 
seem, and perhaps for that very occasion, the ever- 
since familiar case of the seven deceased brothers, 
with the deceased woman who, in life, had suc- 
cessively been the wife and widow of the whole 
seven. Calling His attention to the well-known 
21 



238 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

circumstance that the law of Moses sometimes re- 
quires a man to marry his brother's widow, they 
narrated their case, — containing six instances in 
one family where this requirement had been com- 
plied with, — and then demanded of Him, as to 
those seven men, whose wife, in the resurrection, 
this seven-times widowed woman would right- 
fully be. 

In replying to the Sadducees, Jesus proceeds to 
show them that, in regard to the subject in hand, 
they had erred greatly ; and further, that the cause 
of their thus erring was their ignorance of the 
Scriptures, and of the Divine power or capability. 
Their errors, thus arising, seem to have been, 
First, the assumption that life after death, if a 
reality, must needs be such as the Pharisees taught ; 
and Second, the notion that even the writings of 
Moses, to say nothing of the other Scriptures, are 
really silent as to the after-death life. 

The Saviour endeavors to show to the Sadducees 
and all in attendance, that the fact of Jehovah's 
saying to Moses, " I am the God of Abraham," &c, 
is a clear proof that the patriarchs mentioned, 
though dead as to their bodies, were yet actually 
alive, else God could not at that time have been 
their God ; — also, that as certain as it was that 
those patriarchs were then living, so certain it was 
that they were living in some other than this 
earthly state. He would have His hearers all con- 
sider too, that the universal Father, who, of 
course, must be disposed to do for His offspring 
whatever is truly desirable, is abundantly capable 
of bringing mankind into a state of existence 
higher than the present — even into a heavenly, 
angelic, immortal one. 

The substance of our Lord's reply to the Sad- 
ducee doctors, is given, in varying language, by 



A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION. 239 

the first three evangelists. Not to cite the whole 
of the passage from Exodus but once, their ac- 
counts are as follows, according to the Common 
Version : 

Mattliew. " Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the 
power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, 
nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in 
heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have 
ye not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, ' I 
am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God 
of Jacob ' ? x God is not the God of the dead, but of the 
living." xxii. 23-32. 

Mark. " Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the 
Scriptures, neither the power of God ? For when they shall 
rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in 
marriage ; but are as the angels who are in heaven. And as 
touching the dead, that they rise : have ye not read in the book 
of Moses, how in the bush God spoke to him, saying, ' I am 
the God of Abraham," &c. He is not the God of the dead, 
but the God of the living : ye therefore do greatly err." xii. 
18-27. 

Luke. " The children of this world marry, and are given in 
marriage : but those who shall be accounted worthy to obtain 
that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, 
nor are given in marriage : neither can they die any more : for 
they are equal to the angels ; and are the children of God, be- 
ing the children of the resurrection. Now that the dead are 
raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the 
Lord * the God of Abraham ', &c. For He is not a God of the 
dead, but of the living : for all live to Him." xx. 27-38. 

In the text from Exodus adduced by our Lord 
against the Sadducees' doctrine, the word " am " 
has nothing corresponding to it in the original 
Hebrew, the expression being literally a I the 
God " &c. There can be no doubt, however, that 
the verb 6e, in time present, is really understood 
there ; for common sense teaches thus much ; and 
Jesus argues from the text as though such a word 
were in it ; and the Sadducees take no exception 

lEx. iii.6. 



240 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

to His doing so ; and in the Gospel by Matthew, 
the ellipsis is actually filled by the proper Greek 
term. (Eimi.) Besides, as is generally known, 
the Hebrew has no present tense ; and it is there- 
fore common, in that language, to indicate simple 
being, in time present, by the absence of a verb ; as 
when Abraham, and Moses also, being called by 
name, respond, " Here I/' which our translators, 
with manifest propriety, render into English, 
u Here am I.'' 1 

It will be seen that, according to Matthew, when 
Jesus cited from the book of Exodus the text 
alluded to, He cited it as presenting somewhat 
" touching the resurrection of the dead" * We 
have it, then, from the highest Christian authority, 
that that text actually does teach something 
relating directly to the subject in hand. 

From our Lord's argumentation, as learned from 
the meager abstracts furnished by the evangelists, 
the conclusion forces itself upon my mind, that the 
true Christian doctrine as to the time of the resur- 
rection, is, that it is all along, — so to speak, — 
in an extended present, each subject of the resur- 
rection being raised at the death of the body. The 
principal points in His remarks necessitating such 
a conclusion, are the following : 

1. The life our Saviour proves for the patriarchs 
named, which life presupposes their resurrection, 
and from which He deduces a like destiny for all, 
belongs manifestly to an extended present. God 
was, and had been, their God ; He is not, at any 
time, the God of the dead ; He is, at all times, the 
God of the living; — therefore those patriarchs 
were alive at the time specified, and they had been 

* According to the teachings of Christ and, after Him, Paul, 
future life presupposes a resurrection. See Chap. y. of this work. 

J Gen. xxiL 11; Ex. iii. 4. 



A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION. 241 

alive ever since their bodily demise. And it being 
true, according to Christ's manner of treating the 
subject, that their being thus alive evinces that 
they had been raised, the conclusion therefore 
legitimately follows that the resurrection takes 
place with each individual on his quitting the 
earthly body. 

2. According to Luke, the natural conclusion of 
our Saviour's argument, and in its full magnitude, 
namely, that all the dead live, was brought out by 
Him in due form : " He is not a God of the dead, 
but of the living : for all live to Him." Now there 
can be no dispute that in the proposition, " all live 
to Him/ 7 the Greek verb rendered " live " is 
actually in the present tense ; and from consider- 
ing in what company the proposition is found, it 
seems clearly evident that the time intended is 
present time. Thus, that God is not a God of the 
dead, and that He is the God of the living, are 
propositions obviously true in any and every 
period of human existence. Nor could this ex- 
tended time be in any way so conveniently 
expressed as it now is by the use of the present 
tense. Yet appended to these two propositions is 
the one now in hand ; — " all live to Him " ; — and 
why is not the present tense in this, indicative of 
the same division of time as it is in those ; namely, 
an extended present? According to the Scrip- 
tures, however, if the departed do live, — if they 
are " living," — it follows that they " are raised.' 7 

3. It is also true, according to Luke, that the 
Saviour argued, in express terms, u that the dead 
are raised." Thus he makes Him to have said, 
u Now that the dead are raised, even Moses show- 
ed," &c. If in this place it really was not the 
design of Luke to represent the Saviour as teach- 
ing a resurrection occurring in present time, it 

21* 



242 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

seems at least unaccountable that lie should have 
employed just such language as he might have 
employed, with entire propriety, had he had that 
design and no less. Even the verb egeiro, to raise, 
is here used in the passive form ; (egeirontai = are 
raised ;) and it is obvious that the present of the 
passive, — which, philosophically, is present time 
beginning back in the past, — is not naturally 
taken in a future sense. 

4. Mark uses precisely the same verbal inflection 
as Luke, — egeirontai^ — although, in the Common 
Version, the verb is — from some cause — render- 
ed as if in the active voice. By such rendering he 
is made to make Jesus say, " As touching the 
dead, that they rise : have ye not read," &c. The 
expression, " they rise " is indeed most naturally 
understood as equivalent to "theyefo rise' 7 ; yet 
it can have a future signification put upon it with 
much less apparent violence to the ordinary rules 
of language, than can the proper rendering, "they 
are raised." 

The text, "for all live to Him' 7 , is not generally 
taken to mean that this is so in fact, but merely 
that it is so to God, — it being supposed that, with 
Him, all time is an " eternal Now." But what is 
there in the text or context necessitating such an 
interpretation? Obviously, nothing. The inter- 
pretation adverted to is necessary only for the 
purpose of bringing the text to harmonize with 
the doctrine of an all-future, simultaneous, universal 
resurrection. The attendant circumstances do by 
no means indicate the assumed metonymy of tense. 
On the contrary, they allow, and even require, that 
the proposition shall be taken in its simple, gram- 
matical import. 

So, too, as regards the text setting forth that 
what was said to Moses at the burning bush shows 



A PRESENT OK PASSING RESURRECTION. 243 

" that the dead are raised. " I affirm that there is 
no good reason for understanding our Lord's 
language there in any other than its plain ; obvious 
sense, namely, that the dead experience the resur- 
rection one after another, even as they have died. 
Various objections, however, may be started 
against this view of the subject : 

I. It may be objected that the tenses of verbs 
in the Greek Testament are not always reliable as 
to time. Let this be admitted; and what then? 
The texts we have been arguing from in this 
chapter, contain no indefinite tenses, no dubious 
forms of verbal inflection. However much of 
force the objection may have elsewhere, it clearly, 
in this place, has none at all. Ego eimi = 1 am; 
Theos esti = God is ; Pantes zosi = All live ; Hoi 
Nekroi egeirontai = The Dead are raised ; — are 
all plain examples in the present tense. N. B. 
The Greek words are here arranged English-wise. 

II. It is also objected that, with express refer- 
ence to the resurrection, the future tense actually 
occurs in many texts ; and the claim is, that while 
the present tense is often put for the future, the 
future is never put for the present. 

The words " many, 95 often/' and " never," in 
the above objection, are stronger terms than the 
facts of the case will warrant. " Several," 
" sometimes," and " seldom," would be unexcep- 
tionable. But the objection is of no force. The 
use of a future tense is not, of itself, any argument 
against the views herein advanced. In two classes 
of texts, the future tense is as clearly in harmony 
with a progressing resurrection as it is with any 
other. 

The classes of Scripture texts above alluded to, 
comprise, First, those relating to persons then alive 
in the flesh, — -and, Second, those which include all 
mankind, 



244 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

"God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up 
us" 1 Cor. vi. 14. 

" As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also 
bear the image of the heavenly/' 1 Cor. xv. 49. 

" As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
alive/' 1 Cor. xv. 22. 

" There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just 
and unjust.'' Acts xxiv. 15. 

In an address to a Christian assembly, might not 
the language of the texts just cited, and of any 
other texts belonging to either of the classes 
mentioned, be as appropriately adopted by a 
speaker holding that the resurrection is now in 
progress, as it could be by one who holds that — , 
leaving out the case of Christ and perhaps a few 
others, — all of the resurrection is yet in the 
future ? Could not the former as properly as the 
latter announce his convictions thus ? : Jesus was 
raised, and we shall be ; yea, all will be made alive, 
even as all die." 

III. It has been contended that in those texts 
where the present tense occurs in speaking of the 
resurrection, the meaning must be future ; for that 
in one such place it is expressly declared that God 
" calleth those things which are not as though they 
were."' Specious as this appears when thus stated, 
I have to observe that the text does by no means 
affirm what the objection virtually claims — that 
God does thus in reference to the resurrection. 
A quickening of the dead, which implies their 
resurrection, is indeed mentioned, — it being affirm- 
ed that God " quickeneth the dead, and calleth" — 
as stated. Yet it is easy to see that the quicken- 
ing and the calling have no declared dependence 
one on the other, the two propositions being 
simply joined, end to end, as it were, by the all-con- 
necting copulative, " and. 75 

As has been observed, it is not in reference to 



A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION. 245 

the resurrection that, according to this text, God 
calls non-entities as if entities. But, in the same 
sentence, as we have seen, a very important state- 
ment is made which does refer to the future life in 
all probability. God . " quickeneth the dead." It 
is even glaringly apparent that this expression 
much more naturally conveys the idea thatUhe 
quickening process was being enacted all along, 
than it does that it was all to be enacted an un- 
known number of centuries thereafter. 

The occasion of the apostle's saying that God 
calls non-existing things as if . existing, was this : 
He — , the apostle, — had just adverted to the his- 
torical fact that God said to Abraham, " I have 
made thee a father of many v nations," — when not 
only was it true that those nations were " not," 
but it was in like manner true that even his son 
Isaac had no actual existence, in whose line ex- 
clusively the posterity of the patriarch was to be 
reckoned. 1 

l Rom. iv 9 17; Gen, rril 5, 21; xxi. 12, 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION.— CONTINUED. 

IV. It has been mentioned as an objection 
against a present resurrection, that, according to 
both Matthew and Mark, the Sadducees, in the 
well-known question which they put to our Lord, 
made use of the future tense, and asked, " whose 
wife shall she be ?" And, according to Mark, they 
also used the future tense of the verb "Vise," say- 
ing, " In the resurrection, therefore, when they 
shall rise, whose wife,' 7 <fec. It is hence argued 
that the Sadducees had not understood the Saviour 
as teaching a resurrection happening at death, but, 
on the contrary, one to happen at some future 
time ; therefore that the Christian resurrection is 
exclusively future. 

I reply, if the Sadducees had any such under- 
standing as to the time of the resurrection, they 
likely got it from the Pharisees. These are known 
to have held that, at least in some instances, the 
rising of the dead from among the dead was de- 
layed for a considerable length of time. But al- 
lowing that Christ's questioners had really under- 
stood Him thus, are we quite sure that, with their 
stubborn prejudices, (not to mention their stupidi- 
ty,) they had understood the great Teacher 
aright? Note. That the Sadducees, in their 



A PRESENT OR PASSINU RESURRECTION. 247 

question, really used the future tense of the verb 
" rise," is by no means indisputable. 

V. Another, and a prominent objection, is, that, 
in the course of His reply to the Sadducees, Jesus 
himself made use of the future tense. It is admit- 
ted that He did thus, in a couple of phrases, ac- 
cording to the Common Version ; yet it is to be 
observed, First, that the correctness of some of 
its renderings, in this place, is at least question- 
able ; and Second, that, so far as the first part of 
His reply is concerned, there would seem to be 
no impropriety in his using the future tense, see- 
ing that, in one phrase at least, that distinction of 
time had certainly been employed by his opposers. 

Our Saviour's reply to the Sadducees consists of 
two parts : First, he shows them that their anti- 
resurrection argument, involved in the case pre- 
sented by them, is altogether irrelevant ; Second, 
in continuation of the subject then in hand, he 
argues from the Scriptures against their doctrinal 
views, and in favor of his own. 

In the Common Version, Mark and Luke — , 
though not Matthew, — each represents our Lord 
as using a future tense once, in the first part of 
His reply ; but not one of the three is made to 
represent Him as using such a tense in the second 
part, where He argues from the Scriptures. And, 
as has been before intimated, seeing that His cap- 
tious opposers had made use of the future tense 
in putting their question, the use of a like tense 
in exposing the irrelevancy of the case upon which 
their question was founded, might reasonably be 
supposed to arise from a laudable desire to avoid 
even the appearance of caviling. 

It is, however, a fact, that throughout both parts 
of our Lord's reply to the Sadducees, He did not 
in a single instance, employ a tense unequivocally 



248 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

future. Where the Common Version makes Him 
say, " For when they shall rise/' &c, the verbal 
inflection given by Mark will hardly be claimed as 
a proper future ;and in Luke, where the Saviour is 
represented as saying, " But those who shall be 
accounted worthy/' &c, the tense given by the 
evangelist is certainly an indefinite past; a literal 
understanding, as to tense, being, " But those 
having been/' &c. It. is not here affirmed that the 
aorist participle, kataxiothentes, " having been ac- 
counted worthy/' may not have a present signifi- 
cation ; but it is affirmed that, aside from creeds, 
no reason exists for supposing its sense, in that 
text, to be future. And various considerations 
lead directly to the conclusion that it was meant 
to be taken in its natural, grammatical import, 
denoting the present possession of a former re- 
ception of a past action. Some of these consider- 
ations follow : 

1. That the expression in mention is to be taken 
in a future sense, is both grammatically and rhe- 
torically very improbable, from the fact that it is 
only in the poetic prophetic portions of the Scrip- 
tures, that the past tense is at all likely to be put 
for the future. In the didactic and narrative parts, 
that Hebraistic figure of speech is seldom or never 
met with — at least in the New Testament. 

2. If we knew nothing of the original, it would 
be proper to suspect an erroneous translation 
here ; as it seems entirely inconsistent for Jesus to 
have employed the language ascribed to Him by 
the Common Version. The expression, " those 
who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that 
world," &c, is exactly calculated to convey the 
idea that some shall not be thus accounted ; and 
the necessary inference from this would be that, 
for such persons, there is no existence. in any other 



A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION. 249 

world than the present. But we might know that 
Jesus did not teach thus ; for by showing that the 
so-called dead are " living," he claims to show 
that they " are raised " ; and then, by declaring 
that " all live ", he lets us know that by " the 
dead," He means all the dead; — and we, by 
putting that and that together, could not well avoid 
seeing that His doctrine truly was that all the 
dead are raised, and, of course, have all been ac- 
counted worthy to obtain that world so different 
from this. 

3. If it would have been inconsistent for Christ 
to say, in plain terms, " those who shall b*e,' ; &c, 
how much more inconsistent for him to say that 
by mere construction — using language which re- 
quires to be interpreted in a future sense, though, 
to sound and sight, seemingly expressive of time 
past ! It is totally incredible, then, that the real 
import of His language is such as is indicated by 
the Common Version. 

VI. It may now be urged, as against a present 
resurrection, that even if the proper rendering of 
the phrase in question is really such as is herein 
argued, — u those having been [or who have been] 
accounted worthy f \ — still the infinitive, u to ob- 
tain," may denote future time, its time being cer- 
tainly subsequent to that of the antecedent verb ; 
so that the passage may teach an exclusively 
future resurrection after all. 

This argument, if not far-fetched, is at least far- 
stretched. An infinitive, following a verb or 
participle in present time, may naturally enough 
have a future sense ; but following a verb or par- 
ticiple .in past time, it will hardly transcend the 
present. But this needs not be insisted upon ; for 
the time of the infinitive, in this case, is de- 
monstrably present. " Those having been account- 
22 



250 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

ed worthy to obtain 77 the boon mentioned, are rep- 
resented by the Saviour as " being 77 actually in 
possession of it. 

To be " children of this world 7 ' or " aion ' 7 , is, 
manifestly, to be living entities in the present 
mode of being. " To obtain that world " or 
" aion 77 , is ; as manifestly, to come to be livers in 
the after-death or resurrection mode of being. So, 
also, it is entirely manifest that to be " children of 
the resurrection 77 , is to have been raised — is to 
have been subjects of the process denominated 
anastasis. 

Do£s now the blessed Eedeemer here promise 
that by-and-by, in the lapse of ages, after the ex- 
piration of a length of time known only to the 
Omniscient One, all the dear u children of God " — , 
those " accounted worthy to obtain that world/ 7 
&c, — shall, by virtue of being raised, become — , 
what they are not to be till then, — "children of 
the resurrection 7 ' ? Nay, verily. So far from 
even intimating the existence of such a state of 
things, he positively and unequivocally affirms that 
those " accounted worthy to obtain that world,' 7 
&c, " are the children [or sons] of God, being the 
children [or sons] of the resurrection. 7 ' We may 
thus see that the resurrection is as it were the 
door into the spirit world ; and that those having 
entered that world, " are raised. 77 

In continuation of the argument for a present 
resurrection, as drawn from the passage in Luke 
which we have been considering, two circum- 
stances may now be worthy of notice : 

1. Whatever the authors of the Common Version 
may have meant by the forms of speech which 
they employ in this place, the plain, grammatical 
import of their language is, that all such persons 
as, at some future time, " shall be accounted worthy 



A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION. 251 

to obtain " the resurrection world, do not, now, 
enter into matrimonial relations. There are few 
who hold that marriage is inconsistent with 
Christianity ; and to all except such 7 it can not but 
be perfectly obvious that the absence of marriage 
affirmed in this text, is meant to be affirmed of 
those who have gone to the spirit world, and not 
of those who are to go some time or other. But 
the entrance to that world is through the resur- 
rection, as we have seen ; consequently the 
affirmation of the Saviour in the text in hand, was 
not concerning those who shall be accounted 
worthy, but concerning those who have been thus 
accounted, or who are. It therefore is literally 
true that the so-called dead u are raised." 

2. It is also affirmed of the persons mentioned, 
" Neither can they die any more. 7 ' As with the 
declared absence of marriage, so with the declared 
impossibility of death, — there can be no doubt 
that it applies to the resurrection world, and not 
to this. The death intended is clearly the death 
of the body. But the declaration that they can 
not thus die, is obviously equivalent to saying that 
they are immortal, and therefore that they have 
departed from this mode of being, and of course 
have been deemed worthy of the immortal state. 
Again. They can not " die any more v . This 
supposes, indisputably, that they had died, and 
therefore that they had been mortal, but were then 
quite otherwise. Of whom did the Saviour here 
speak — of whom could He be speaking, — unless 
there were some of the human race who even 
then had been raised to immortality ? 

VII. It is also objected that, in a certain text, we 
are informed that " David is not ascended into the 
heavens." From this it is argued that at that time 
David was not raised, therefore not others. The 



252 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD. 

text is often quoted, " For David is not yet ascend- 
ed/ 7 &c. ; and the import .is taken to be the same 
as saying, in modern popular phrase, " David is 
not yet gone to heaven." But " heaven " and 
" the heavens " may not have precisely, the same 
import; and besides, there is not the least intima- 
tion, in either the text or context, that David was 
ever to ascend in the sense there intended. The 
reference of the text is not to a resurrection, but 
to a subsequent Regal exaltation. 

The text occurs in Peter's sermon at the day of 
Pentecost. He declares the resurrection of Jesus ; 
cites the words of David, " Thou wilt not leave 
my soul in hell," &c. ; and teaches that David's 
words as thus cited do not apply to David, but to 
Jesus. He then announces the exaltation of Jesus 
to the right hand of God, — quotes also from 
David, " The LORD said to My Lord,' 7 &c., — and 
sets forth that it war> — not David, but — Jesus 
who was thus to ascend : 

"For David is not ascended into the heavens : but he saith 
himself, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on My right 
hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all 
the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that 
same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.'' 
Acts ii. 34-36 ; Ps. ex. 1 

To a Jewish auditory, in whose Scriptures David 
is addressed as " my lord the king, 7 ' and ex- 
pressly styled " the Lord's anointed/' which is 
the same as to say, " the Lord's Christ," the 
argumentation of Peter on the occasion referred 
to, however it may now seem to us, w r as doubt- 
less perfectly appropriate and of the kind which, 
in those circumstances, was imperatively neces- 
sary. 

i 2 Sam. xiv. 17-19; xix. 19, 21; 1 Kings i. 27, 31, 36, Ps. Ixxxix. 
38, 51 ; Luke ii. 26. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION — CONTINUED 

In conversation with some of the Jews, on a 
certain occasion, our Lord claims to have received 
from God the capability of rewarding all true 
believers with everlasting, spiritual, or religious 
life : or, as He also expresses it, of bringing them 
to a resurrection of life ; — also, on the other hand, 
the " authority to execute judgment " upon the 
unbelievers of that age, or to bring them to a 
resurrection of punishment, judgment, condemna- 
tion, or — as the Common Version has it — "of 
damnation." (See Chaps, xv, xx, of this work.) 
He claims also, to be doing the same or the like 
things as His Father, alleging that " what things 
soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son like- 
wise." 

In specifying the acts of his Father and himself, 
he, in the course of his remarks, observes thus : 

" For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth 
them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will." John v. 21. 

It really seems to the writer of this, that the 
work here ascribed to the Father is the raising of 
the deceased to an immortal celestial life ; also, 
that that claimed by the Son is the bringing of 
some into a state of spiritual or religious life on 
22* 



254 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

earth. Of this interpretation, however, the writer 
is by no means tenacious. He will ooly say, in 
this place, that of whatever nature the work of the 
One or of the Other really is, the time of doing it 
is indicated by the use of the present tense; also, 
that, apart from creeds, there is no reason why the 
expression " raiseth up " — , properly " raiseth/' — 
should not be taken as denoting present or passing 
time. 

In the verse preceding the text, we read, u The 
Father loveth the Son." In the verse succeeding, 
we properly read, " The Father judgeth no one." 
Present time is intended, no doubt, in these two ; 
— why not, then, where it is said, (in the verse 
occurring between the two,) " The Father raiseth 
the dead " ? l 

The apostle Paul, in one of his Letters, tells of a 
u trouble " he had been having, and which had 
pressed upon him so overpoweringly that he had 
despaired even of life. He tells also of God's 
having delivered him " from so great a death ", 
and of his having learned not to trust in himself, 
" but in God who raiseth the dead." 2 

In this text, a present participle, preceded by the 
article with a personal import, is applied to the 
raising mentioned, — a more literal translation 
being, " but in God, tJie One raising the dead." A 
few verses previous, we read of " the God of all 
comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation." 
Here, as in the text in hand, a more literal render- 
ing would be, "the One comforting ," &c. Yet since 
no person would pretend to understand this text 
in any other sense than that God had all along 
been comforting at least the apostle in his troubles, 
it must be clear that the common rendering, " who 

1 John v. 20-22. 2 2 Cor. i. S-10. 



A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION. 255 

comforteth," is not an improper one. And it 
being a fact that the same construction occurs in 
the text where we read that God " raiseth the 
dead/ 7 I can not conceive that the language of the 
apostle was designed to teach any thing less than 
that even as he with others had been comforted 
from time to time, so the dead were being raised 
one after another. 

It may perhaps be thought that the raising here 
mentioned belongs to this world ; for the apostle 
goes on to tell of having been delivered from 
death. The writer believes, confidently, that the 
text in question has reference to the after-death 
life ; yet, as with the text from John, so with this, 
he is not at all pertinacious concerning his view of 
its reference. One thing, however, he is somewhat 
anxious to impress upon the reader's mind — the 
time meant to be indicated in the expression 
u raiseth the dead/' is certainly an extended 
present. 

Query. In 2 Cor. i. 10, would not "preserved" be a much 
better rendering than " delivered " ? — " Who preserved us 
from so great a death, and doth preserve : in whom w r e trust 
that He will still preserve." 

In the speech of Paul before Agrippa, the 
apostle adverts to the raising of the dead, in word 
and manner as follows, according to the Common 
Version : 

" Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that 
God should raise the dead" ? Acts xxvi. 8. 

It was never disputed, perhaps, that, in this text, 
the apostle spoke of a raising into the immortal 
state. Yet its rendering in the Common Version, 
if right, is by no means literal. The tense in the 
Greek is indisputably the simple present, not an 
indefinite. The same verb, with the same inflec- 



256 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

tion of the verb, occurs here that occurs in the 
text from John, " The Father raiseth up the 
dead.' 7 And the literal rendering of the last clause 
of the text from Acts is undeniably this, " that 
God raises the dead? " 

Not now to mention the text from John concern- 
ing God's raising the dead, the fact that Paul ap- 
plied the present tense to such raising, in the two 
texts cited from him on that subject, but especially 
in the latter one, seems to show, with entire clear- 
ness, that he viewed the celestial resurrection to 
be a process going on in present time. Had he 
intended an exclusively future time, it must have 
been perfectly easy, and natural too, for him to 
put the verb egeiro in the future tense, so that, in 
English, the latter part of the latter text would 
properly read, " that God will raise the dead V J 

In the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians, this same 
apostle applies the present tense to the resurrec- 
tion a dozen or more of times in a direct manner, 
and a considerable number of times by implication. 
Thus, — to cite less than half the examples occur- 
ring in the chapter, — he holds forth as follows : 

"How say some among you that there is no resurrection of 
the dead ? " 

" If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not 
risen." 

" If the dead rise not, then is Christ not raised." 

" How are the dead raised up ? and with what body DO they 
come ? " 

" It is raised a spiritual body." 

The circumstance that the apostle employed the 
present tense so many times in this one chapter, 
as well when setting forth the manner of the resur- 
rection, as when arguing its reality, is a convincing 
proof that he meant to be understood as teaching 
that the resurrection is occurring continually. 

It is a fact well worthy of observation, that 



A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION. 257 

throughout the chapter in mention, whenever the 
apostle employs the present tense of the verb 
egeiro = " raise/' he is careful to so connect it 
with the present tense of some other verb, or with 
a past tense of the same verb, and withal to put 
the verb in such form, as that the expression, 
rightly rendered, cannot be taken in a future sense 
without an obvious departure from the ordinary 
rules of construction. Thus, for example, 

When setting forth the manner of the resurrec- 
tion, in answer to the questions, u How are the 
dead raised up? and with what body do they 
come?, he coupled the verb "is raised' 7 with the 
verb " is sown 7 ' four times in one sentence : 

" So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in cor- 
ruption ; it is raised in incorruption : it is sown in dishonor ; 
it is raised in glory : it is sown in weakness ; it is raised in 
power : it is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual 
body." Verses 42 — 44. 

Now, as figuratively applied in the above-cited 
passage, just what is meant by being " sown" is 
perhaps dubious. Some understand it of man's 
introduction into existence ; others, of his depar- 
ture from this mode of being, symbolized by 
burial. But whether it refers to his genesis, or to 
his exodus, or to neither, one fact is clearly mani- 
fest — the thing is being done, — the process is 
enacted with each individual separately, — there is 
a series of sowings, let sowing mean what it may. 
But the apostle uses the verb " is raised" in pre- 
cisely the same manner as he does the verb is 
sown; — how, then, can we consistently under- 
stand him as intending to teach that the raising 
of all the dead is to be effected at some future 
time simultaneously ? 

Again. While arguing the verity of the resurrec- 
tion from the fact of Christ's having been raised, 



258 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

the apostle not only applies the present tense to 
the raising of the dead, but he associates that 
tense twice with the imperfect, and, in the original, 
six times with the perfect tense.* Thus he says, 
" If Christ be not risen, [rightly, " if Christ has 
not been raised"] we are found false wit- 
nesses of God ; because we have testified of God 
that He raised up Christ ; whom He raised not up 
if so be," &c. So when the apostle is made to say, 
" If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is 
Christ not risen/' what he really says is, " If there 
is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not 
been raised.' 7 And the philosophy of this colloca- 
tion of tenses is, that the present tense, when thus 
coupled with the past tense, does not naturally 
slide into a future signification. The past tense 
fixes it to its own proper time. 

Once more. Instead of saying, " the dead rise," 
using the verb intransitively, as represented in the 
Common Version, the apostle, in the phrase so 
rendered, and which occurs four times, constantly 
puts the verb in the passive form, and says " are 
raised." (Bgeirontai.) Thus, where he is made 
to say, " If the dead rise not, then is Christ not 
raised/ 7 what he really says is, "If the dead are 
not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 77 
" Rise 77 is no more a proper rendering here, than 
" rises" would be in the passage where, as we have 
seen, he four times uses the expression " is raised/' 
(Egeiretai.) 

The difference, as to manner of time, between 
the intransitive present and the passive present, — 
and between the passive present and the passive 
perfect, — may be stated thus: The intransitive 

* In the Common Version, the perfect time passive of egeiro — 
" raise," is, in 1st Corinthians, 15th totally ignored. 



A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION. 259 

present properly indicates present time, yet not 
^infrequently bears a future sense, its time being 
usually somewhat extended in that direction ; — 
the passive present denotes present time begun 
back in the past, and so is very rarely, if ever, 
used for a future. And since the passive perfect 
indicates past time extending forward to present- 
time, the character of this tense and that of the 
passive present differ little except in their manner 
of time, the latter being, as it were, a past present, 
while the former is — so to speak — a present 
past. Yet it is far from being a fact that either 
one can in all cases be properly substituted for the 
other. 

In the light of this analysis, let us transcribe a 
portion of the apostle's argument. I follow the 
Common Version, for the most part, except in the 
tenses : 

" Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the 
dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of 
the dead ? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then 
Christ has not been raised : and if Christ has not been raised, 
then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, 
we are even found false witnesses of God ; because we have 
testified of God that he raised Christ ; whom he did not raise, 
if so be that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not 
raised, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not 
been raised," &c. 

Now to say, in the language of the Common 
Version, " If the dead rise not, then is not Christ 
raised/ 7 is truly to argue a present rising of the 
dead ; yet, from preconceived opinions, the verb 
" rise" may be (mis) taken in a future sense. But 
to say, — as the apostles actually did say, and, in 
substance, as many as three or four times, — " If the 
dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised," 
is to argue unequivocally that the dead are in a 
raised state. They are raised, and have been, and 



260 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

were ; even as Christ was raised, and has been, 
and is. 

It may be asserted here, concerning egeiromai, 
the passive form of egeiro, that, in all its varia- 
tions, it is passive only in form, its sense not being 
" to be raised/ 7 but simply " to rise/' or "to be 
risen." But to prove it true in Scripture usage, 
(I do not say, by the dicta of translators/) it must 
at least be shown that, in the Scriptures, egeiro has 
scarcely ever the transitive signification of " to 
raise ", but nearly always the intransitive signi- 
fication of " to rise n . But the entire opposite of 
this is entirely true, so far at least as regards the 
use of the word by Paul and Peter in their writings, 
and — we may add — by Paul, and Peter, and 
others, as given by Luke in Acts. Thus the pro- 
position that God " raised " Christ, (egeiro being 
used,) is stated six times in Acts, ten times in 
Paul's Epistles, and once in 1st Peter ; and in all 
these instances egeiro is in the active voice, and 
used transitively, as is perfectly obvious. When, 
therefore, as in 1 Cor. 15th, the apostle puts this 
verb in the passive voice, and thus seems to say 
that Christ " has been raised ", we may know that 
what he seems to say he really says ; for that if 
God really raised Christ, Christ really was raised 
by Him. So, also, if by His power God actually 
" raises " the dead, which, as we have seen, was 
actually taught, and in express terms, not only by 
Paul, but by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, then, 
through the Divine power, the dead are actually 
raised ; and when not only Paul, but the Lord 
Jesus Christ himself, each seems to say that " the 
dead are raised", they say not that the dead 
"rise", or "are risen", but actually that "the 
dead are raised." 

To conclude this chapter, If it was not the 



A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION. 261 

doctrine of Paul that the raising of the dead oc- 
curs in present time, why did he make an objector 
say, " How'are the dead raised up" ? Especially, 
why did he also put this question into his mouth, 
" With what body do they come? It is manifest 
that the time of the resurrection was not the point 
in debate between Paul and his antagonist ; and 
that his charging him with the non-use of his 
intellectual powers, was not from any perceived 
error in him as regards the when of the process. 
If, therefore, it had been the apostle's doctrine 
that the resurrection of the dead is exclusively 
future, he would most certainly have worded the 
supposed questions thus : " How will the dead be 
raised? and with what body will they come?" 
(See 1 Cor. xv. 35.) 

" The dead are raised." 
23 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION — CONCLUDE^. 

VIII. It has been presented as an objection 
against the Scripturality of a present or passing 
resurrection, that Paul, in one place ; speaks of 
certain men's having erred concerning the truth, 
" saying, that the resurrection is past already." 
On this I remark that their error consisted not in 
holding that the resurrection was some of it past, 
but in holding that it all was. The apostle had 
himself said, in that same chapter, " Remember 
that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised 
from the dead/ 7 1 

IX. An other objection is based upon the cir- 
cumstance that Jesus Christ is declared, in the 
Scriptures, to be "the first-born from the dead ". 2 
The objection proceeds on the ground (, which 
will be left undisturbed for the present,) that the 
sense of the text is to the effect that Christ was 
the first who was raised into the immortal state ; 
and it is hence naturally enough argued that see- 
ing the doctrine of a present resurrection was not 
true before His time, it is not true now. I reply 
as follows : 

The text contains the phrase " from the dead." 
Rut the resurrection of the dead, and the resur- 
rection of some one from the dead, are quite two 

1 2 Tim, ii. 8, 18, s Col. i. 18. 



A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION. 263 

things. Rising from the dead supposes being as 
it were set apart from the dead in general, by the 
peculiarity of having such an organization as that 
the riser can be seen, heard, handled, &c. ; by per- 
sons in the flesh. (See Chaps. ii. ? iii.) 

Various individuals were raised from the dead 
before Christ was ; yet they, as also others who 
were raised afterward, were raised to mere mortal 
life. It is therefore a fact that Christ is not only 
the first, but is also the last, ever raised from the 
dead to an immortal life. And this fact is perfectly 
in harmony with the doctrine that the resurrection 
of each human being to immortal life takes place at 
or soon after the decease of such human being ; 
also, that this has constantly been the course of 
events in that line ever since death entered the 
world. For the dead in general are not raised 
from the dead — indeed how could they be? The 
Scripture instructs us simply that the dead are 
raised, giving no intimation that they are raised 
from themselves, or that they ever will be. 

The dead are raised in spiritual bodies, and so, 
to the mere physical sense, are imperceptible. In 
order, therefore, that the great fact of human im- 
mortality might be rendered in a manner sensible, 
so that persons religiously " spiritual " x in but a 
moderate degree could perceive and appreciate it, 
" the man Christ Jesus ", who, as to the constitu- 
tion of His nature, had "in all things" been 
"made like His brethren", was, in the Divine 
economy, singled out — , so to speak, — from the 
rest of the dead, by being caused to take on, for a 
time, his earthly body, in addition to being 
spiritually embodied in common with the dead in 
general. Viewed thus, He is clearly the Alpha and 
the Omega, the First and also the Last. 2 

1 1 Cor. ii. 15. 

a 1 Tim. ii. 5; Heb. si. 17; Rev. i. 11, 17; xxii. 13. 



264 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

The text in question, however, seems to relate 
to dignity, rather than to priority. Being " the 
first-born" appears to have reference — not to 
primogeniture, but — to eminence in official station : 

" Who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in 
all things he might have the pre-eminence." Col. i. 18. 

In the Psalms we read, " Also I will make him 
My first-born, higher than the kings of the earth." 
According to the genius of Hebrew poetry, the 
latter half of this verse shows the sense of the 
former ; and as it is not said, older, or more 
ancient than the kings of the earth, but simply 
" higher ", it follows that, at least in the language 
of the Psalmist, " first-born " is the same as 
" Premier ", or prime minister, or first minister, 
which, by usage, is synonymous with the chief 
officer under the Sovereign. An allusion to this 
text from the Psalms seems to be made in the book 
•of the Revelation, where we read that Christ is 
u the first-begotten [, rightly, '.' the first-born] of 
the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the 
earth." So Paul, in a certain place, tells us that 
some were to be " conformed to the image " of 
Christ, in order " that He might be the first-born 
among many brethren". (The Premier, or Chief 
One.) So also, through the prophet, the Lord 

says, " Behold I have given him for a 

Leader and Commander to the people." 1 Note. 
In most of these texts, the idea of Regal heirship 
is probably also included. See Ps. ii. 7, 8, and 
other places. 

In like manner, the text in question speaks of 
his having " the pre-eminence " ; and the Common 
Version makes him to have it " in all things " ; but 
the phrase rendered " in all things ", may quite as 

1 Ps. lxxxix. 27; Rev. i. 5; Rom. viii. 29; Isa. lv. 4. 



A PRESENT Oil PASSING RESURRECTION. 265 

properly be rendered " over all persons." The 
language of the text is at least eminently cal- 
culated to set forth the fact of Christ's pre-eminent 
superiority. Even in the affirmation that he is 
" the beginning ", the word so rendered, when 
applied to persons, and especially to those in 
office, properly signifies a Leader, or the one first 
or highest in rank. And in the phrase " from the 
dead ", the preposition may import " selected 
from " or " chosen from " on account of excellence, 
and so be equivalent to " of 7 ' or " among' 7 . (See 
Chap, iii,) The sense of the text I then take to 
be that Jesus is the Leader, the Chief One of or 
among those who have died, the One having pre- 
eminence over all. With this view of the text, it 
is parallel with that one where, by a literal render- 
ing, it is declared that " to this end Christ both 
died and lived, that he might have dominion over 
both dead and living 77 . 1 

X. It will, however, be objected that Paul, be- 
fore Agrippa, declares expressly that Moses and 
the prophets had predicted of Christ " that He 
should be the first that should rise from the dead." 2 
From this text the same argument is deduced as 
in the previous objection ; and so far as rising 
from the dead is concerned, the same remarks are 
applicable. But it is needful to remark further, 
that the text is strangely mistranslated, the com- 
mon rendering here being singularly unfaithful to 
the Greek original. 

Ei ttqcotos e£ avavTaaews veicgwv 

Ei protos ex anastaseos nekron. 
In the Common Version, the above Greek phrase 
is rendered into English " on this wise 7 ' : 

Ei, " that ; 7 ' protos, " the first ; " ex, " from ; " 

1 Rom. xiv. 9. 2 Acts xxvi. 23. 

23* 



266 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD. 

anastaseos, " he should be that should 

rise ; " nehron, " the dead/' = " That he should be 
the first that should rise from the dead." 

" Anastaseos" is simply the noun anastasis in the 
genitive case ; and this mere noun is here made to 
be equivalent to two verbs and their nominatives — 
" he should be ... . that should rise " ! 

The phrase " ex anastaseos nehron " occurs also 
in the Epistle to the Romans. (See i. 4.) In that 
place it is rendered thus : " by the resurrection 
from the dead." How different from the render- 
ing just considered ! 

The philosophy of the above-mentioned render- 
ing in Romans, whether correct or otherwise, I 
take to be as follows : 

The preposition eh or ex requires the genitive 
case after it; and when placed before two nouns in 
the genitive, it may have the same force as if 
duplicated, and placed next to the latter noun also, 

— the latter noun being put in the genitive — not 
to indicate the relation expressed by "of" in 
English^ but — because that case is required by eh 
or ex. " Ex anastaseos nehron" in that text, is 
taken to be equivalent to ex anastaseos ek nehron, 
literally., " out of a rising from among the dead," 

— which, however, would be oftener rendered, 
u out of the resurrection from the dead," or 
u from the resurrection from the dead." But at 
the commencement of such an expression, " by ' 
is equivalent to u out of 7 ' or " from " ; — the trans- 
lators therefore employed that word instead of 
u out of" as being more elegant, and instead of 
u from " to prevent tautology, and so represent the 
apostle as saying that Jesus Christ was " declared 

to be the Son of God with power, by the 

resurrection from the dead." 

I do not say that the rendering of the Common 



A PRESENT OR PASSING RESURRECTION. 267 

Version here, is the best that can be ; but I do say 
that the rendering in Romans is superlatively 
preferable to that in Acts. How could the same 
translators translate the same expression so very 
differently, especially since it so obviously has -the 
same reference in the one place as it has in the 
other ! 

Let the style of translation here in Romans be 
applied to the texts now in hand from Acts, and 
the passage will read substantially thus : 

" That the Christ should suffer, in order that, by a rising 
from among the dead, he might first clearly announce light to 
the people and to the Gentiles." 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE MANNER OP THE RESURRECTION. 

"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in cor- 
ruption ; it is raised in incorruption : it is sown in dishonor ; 
it is raised in glory : it is sown in weakness ; it is raised in 
power : it is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body." 
1 Cor. xv. 42—44. 

What is it that is here said to be sown and 
raised ? 

Just what it is, is not said by the apostle — and 
who else now can say? The subjects of those 
verbs he leaves to be supplied from the language 
he had used, — and only says, " is sown," " is 
raised," not prefixing even a pronoun. In the 
rendering of such constructions, however, which, 
by the way, are rather common in Greek, some 
pronoun is commonly taken to be understood; and 
accordingly the word " ffl y appears here, that is, 
in the Common Version. But, in this text, the 
insertion of u it" as a nominative to the verbs 
following, changes uncertain sense into sheer 
nonsense ; since " it" seems to stand for the noun 
or phrase next preceding it, which makes the af- 
firmation seem to be that " the resurrection of the 
dead " is that which is sown and raised : " So 
also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown," 
&c. 

Some supply the word " body" ; as, " The body 



THE MANNER OF THE RESURRECTION. 269 

is sown in corruption ; it is raised in incorruption :" 
&c. This represents the apostle as teaching that 
the body which is sown is the same one that is 
raised, which certainly was not his doctrine ; for 
he declares expressly, in reference to that with 
which he compares the unexpressed thing, " Thou 
sowest not that body that shall be ; " or more 
properly, "the body which will spring into being." 

Others think the word "man" should be sup- 
plied ; as, " Man is sown he is raised/' &c. 

This makes the apostle affirm of man — what it 
seems very unlikely he meant to affirm of man — 
that he'is a " body?' or a mere organization ; as "Man 
is sown a natural body; he is raised a spiritual 
body." 

The text is confessedly difficult of explication. 
It professes to set forth the manner of " the resur- 
rection of the dead," in answer to the questions, 
"How are the dead raised? and with what body 
do they come ? " But it seems, at first view, un- 
fortunate that in the passage of which the text 
forms a part, there are frequent ellipses of nouns 
and verbs ; the neuter pronoun is employed in an 
eotfra-indeterminate manner; a lengthy parenthesis, 
consisting of many particulars, is thrown in be- 
tween the first and last part of the answer ; an 
unusual use of some important terms seems to be 
made ; and in the text itself, occurs a rather an 
apparent solecism * in language. It is perhaps 
possible, however, that by paying very particular 
attention both to the drift of the apostle's ideas, 
and to the construction of his sentences, his mean- 
ing may be unfolded truly and fully. I attempt 
•its unfoldment in this chapter. And 

1. Paul makes his questioner not respectfully to 
ash the questions, as would an honest, sincere in- 

* See last paragraph of this chapter. 



270 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

quirer, but disrespectfully to " say" them, as 
would a captious, sneering objector : " But some 
one will say/' &c. Hence his exclamation, " Fool- 
ish one ! that which thou sowest," &c. 

2. Having such a questioner in his mind, he 
therefore, in reply to the first question, Ci How are 
the dead raised ? " does not forthwith declare the 
manner of the operation, but shows simply that 
the thing is not incredible. " That which thou 
sowest " — , says he, — " is not quickened, if it does 
not die. 7 ' He thus calls attention to the natural 
fact that if a kernel of grain germinates, its germ 
shoots forth into vegetable life, while the kernel 
itself dies, that is, loses its seminal life, and so 
perishes. By a very familiar example, then, he 
showed that life may and often does succeed death. 

3. Also, in reply to the second question, " With 
what body/ 7 &c. ? he does not, at first, treat it as an 
inquiry, and so immediately mention the kind of 
body with which the dead come ; but he replies as 
if to the naked assumption that there is no bodily 
organization except this fleshly one, and hence that 
when this becomes defunct, the spirit must be 
bodiless, as a matter of course. Says he, " Thou 
sowest not the body which will spring into being ; 
but ...... God gives a body/' &c. In this he 

shows that when, in the germination of a seed, 
life succeeds death, a new body also succeeds the 
old. 

4. In these replies, the apostle also recognizes 
the fact that though a seed is in a manner alive, as 
of course it must be in order to die, its life is of a 
lower grade than that of the plant which springs 
from it, the latter possessing vegetable life, while 
the former has but seminal life. He seems quite 
aware, also, that the organization of a seed is of a 
less advanced grade than is that of a plant ; or, in 



THE MANNER OF THE RESURRECTION. 271 

other words, that both the life and the organization 
of a plant are of a higher grade than are those of 
the seed from which it sprung. Says he ; " Thou 
so west not the body which will spring into being; 77 
— that is, the future plant ; — " but thou sowest a 

mere kernel ; perhaps of wheat ; and 

God gives to the germ within it a body, according 
as he willed ; also, to each of the seeds He thus 
gives its proper body." (See Chap, xxxvi of this 
work.) 

5. He next adds three verses of the nature of 
a parenthesis, setting forth that what we call flesh 
is not all of the same specific quality — " one kind 
of flesh of men, an other flesh of beasts," &c. ; — 
that there are bodies in the sky as well as on earth 
— u celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial ; " — that 
the celestial and terrestrial bodies have each their 
own glory or splendor — " the glory of the celestial 
is one ; and the glory of the terrestrial is an 
other ; " — that the different orders of celestial 
bodies have different glories, or degrees of splen- 
dor — " one glory of. the Sun, and an other glory 
of the Moon/ 7 &c. ; — also, that celestial bodies of 
the same order (as the stars) have not all the same 
splendor — " one star differeth from an other star 
in glory." 

6. He now applies to the subject his simile of 
grain-sowing with some of its results, in which 
process is committed to the earth — not a growing 
plant, but — an inactive kernel, whose germ 7 how- 
ever, becomes a plant, while the kernel itself per- 
ishes. And it is highly important to be observed, 
here, that the affirmation, " so also is the resurrec- 
tion of the dead," is not, grammatically, coupled 
with the immediately preceding affirmation, " one 
star differeth from an other star in glory ; " (their 
union giving rise to the not remarkably luminous 



272 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

proposition, " as the stars differ in glory, so also is 
the resurrection ;) but the words " so also/' &c, 
are actually connected, in grammatical construc- 
tion, with what is said four verses previous. I 
quote, passing over the three parenthetical verses, 
and adopting a rendering very nearly literal, and 
containing no supplied words : 

" But some one will say, ' How are the dead raised ? and 
with what body did they come ? ' Foolish one ! that which 
thou sowest is not quickened, if it does not die. And that 
which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body which will spring 
into being ; but a mere kernel ; perhaps of wheat, or of some 
one of the others; and God gives a body to it, according as 
He willed ; also, to each of the seeds, its proper body." * * * * 

" In such manner, also, the raising of the dead : is sown in 
corruptibility; is raised in incorruptibility: is sown in dis- 
honor ; is raised in glory : is sown in weakness ; is raised in 
power : is sown an animal body ; is raised a spiritual body." 
(See Chap, xxxvi.) 

The drift of the above, to my poor perception? 
is to the following purport : Grain is sown ; the 
germ of the kernel sprouts ; the body of the 
kernel dies ; the life-principle -of the germ draws 
around itself a new and different organism ; and 
all this in accordance with the original will of 
God : u in such manner, also, the raising of the 
dead," &c. — which is to say that the circumstan- 
ces attendant on our transition from this to an 
other mode of being, are, in certain respects, 
analogous to those connected with the springing 
of a plant from a seed. 

7. From the foregoing considerations, several 
things seem well-nigh certain : as, 

First In the latter paragraph of the passage 
just cited,, the proper nominative of the verb " is 
sown,' 7 and the proper nominative of the verb " is 
raised,' 7 can not be the same, but must be different; 
for the apostle had said of the grain or kernel liter- 



THE MANNER OF THE RESURRECTION. 273 

literally sown, with which he compares a something 
metaphorically sown, " Thou sowest not the body 
which will spring into being." 

Second. The thing metaphorically sown is evi- 
dently this corruptible and mortal body, answering 
to the kernel which the objector sowed literally. 

Third. In a literal sense, to be " sown/' sup- 
poses being committed to the earth ; yet as affirm- 
ed metaphorically of the human body, though an 
allusion may be had to interment, the important 
idea is clearly this, that the body is dead. Yet a 
fact of very great significance is manifestly implied 
in this use of the verb " to sow," — namely, that 
the earthly body, while possessed of its life, in- 
closes a germ of a higher mode of life. 

Fourth. In the passage under consideration, that 
which is raised, whatever it really is, answers to 
that in a kernel represented* by " it/' (or by a some- 
thing within the it,) in the text where the apostle 
says that " God gives a body to it." He had said, 
" That which thou sowest is not quickened, if it 
does not die /' but the " it " which dies, and the 
"it" which takes a new body, are obviously two 
things. What are these two things, if the one is 
not the kernel, and the other its vegetative germ? * 
the former dying, the latter springing up, and be- 
coming unfolded into a vegetable? 

Fifth. Since, in the passage in hand, the process 

* "Vegetative germ." Some have dreamed of a pr in ciple — or 
something else — appertaining to each plant, which principle (, or 
whatever else it may be called,) is analogous to the spirit in man. 
I do not take it upon me to say that there is no such thing as " a 
plant-spirit;" nor do I affirm that Paul did not recognize its exis- 
tenc2, if it has any; — what I say in relation to it, is, that, to me> 
his language in this place conveys not even an allusion to such an 
entity. But I do understand him as recognizing in a seed the ex- 
istence of a something which I have called a " vegetative germ," 
which germ may be considered as a rudimental plant — a plant as 
it were in embryo. To this God gives a body; that is 2 He causes 
it to grow up into a visible, tangible organism* 

24 



274 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

of being " raised " is compared to the springing of 
a plant from a seed, or — , which is the same thing, 
— to its germ's receiving a vegetable body, it is 
apparent that the verb " is raised " has, here, the 
actual sense of " is unfolded/ 7 or " is unfolded 
into ; 77 " is developer}/ 7 or " is developed into. 77 
And it may be worthy of note in this connection, 
that the word here rendered " is raised, 77 primarily 
imports u is awakened, 7 ' or " is aroused, 57 — the 
figure thus being that the rudimentary plant, or 
second body, is in a manner dormant within the 
kernel, or first body, until after this body is 
"sown." 

Sixth. As has been said, the thing metaphorically 
sown is plainly " the earthly body.' 7 This expres- 
sion might therefore be properly supplied as a 
nominative to the verb "is sown." But a proper 
nominative to the vefb " is raised ' 7 can not so 
readily be supplied ; since the real subject of the 
affirmation has no specific name in even the modern 
languages, much less in the ancient. This fact, so 
far as the Greek is concerned, was perhaps the 
reason why Paul left both the verbs in mention 
without any nominatives expressed. Had he but 
said, at the beginning of the sentence, " To soma 
speiretai," — The body is sown, the sense of the 
next verb, (egeiretai,) now simply " is raised, 7 ' 
would clearly have been " it is raised ; 77 and, 
though he had left all the rest of the nominatives, 
as now, wholly blank, the word " it 77 would have 
been understood before each repetition of each of 
the two verbs throughout the sentence ; and he 
thus unquestionably would have taught, whether 
he intended it or not, — and he clearly did not, — 
that the body which is raised is the identical one 
that is sown. 

Seventh. That entity which the apostle would 



THE MANNER OF THE RESURRECTION. 275 

here have us understand is awaked — roused — rais- 
ed — developed — or unfolded in the anastasis of a 
deceased person, is that particular portion of man's 
essential nature (, unnamed, and, for the most part, 
"ignored,) from which, on the death of the earthly 
organism, or " animal body, 77 arises, by the contriv- 
ance and appointment of God, that super-earthly 
organism denominated " a spiritual body/ 7 through 
connection with which body each of the so-called 
dead is, in the scriptural sense, incorruptible and 
immortal. 

Note. In the absence of any specific name, the 
entity in mention may be styled a " spiritual germ, 7 ' 
or the germ of a spiritual organization. 

The following rather paraphrastical rendering of 
the passage placed at the head of this chapter, and 
a pretty free translation of the same which follows 
that, present, in connection, a rather brief and 
pretty fair synopsis of my views as to the subject 
indicated by the title of this chapter : 

" In such manner, also, is brought about the raising of the 
dead : that pertaining to us which is symbolized by a kernel of 
grain, is sown in corruptibility ; that within us answering to 
what becomes unfolded into a plant, is raised in incorrupti- 
bility : the former of these is sown in dishonor ; the latter is 
raised in glory : the former is sown in weakness ; the latter is 
raised in power : the former is sown an animal body ; the latter 
is raised a spiritual body." (See Chap, xxxvi., where the sup- 
plied words in the above are put in brackets.) 

Or,- 

^ " In a manner somewhat analogous to the above-mentioned 
circumstances, is also effected the passing of human beings 
from the present into the future mode of existence : 

The earthly body loses its vitality, 
and perishes in corruptibility ; 
the spiritual germ within it survives, and 
becomes unfolded in incorruptibility ; 

The earthly body loses its vitality, 
and perishes in dishonor ; 
the spiritual germ within it, survives, and 
becomes unfolded in glory : 



276 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

The earthly body loses its vitality, 
and perishes in weakness ; 
the spiritual germ within it, survives, and 
becomes unfolded in power : 

The earthly body loses its vitality, 
and perishes an animal body ; 
the spiritual germ within it, survives, and 
becomes unfolded into a spiritual body." 

Though death is commonly affirmed of persons, 
as where Paul says, " In Adam all die/ 7 it is, in at 
least one instance, affirmed of the human body, as 
when James says, "'The body without the spirit is 
dead." (Chap. ii. 26.) So in the passage above 
in hand, though the topic under consideration is 
verbally the resurrection of the dead, or the rais- 
ing of dead persons, the apostle, in giving the phi- 
losophy of such resurrection, teaches a raising — 
not of persons, (that is, not verbally so,) but — of 
something appertaining 1 to a person. He usually 
mentions " the dead," and affirms that they " are 
raised;" (persons and plural number;) but, in this 
passage, he says, " is raised," using an inflection of 
the verb agreeing with some subject in the singular, 
which subject or nominative is manifestly neither 
man, nor the spirit of man, for it is plainly declared 
to be " raised a spiritual body." And his thus say- 
ing, in amount, " So is the raising of dead persons," 
and then adding, " It is raised," &c, instead of 
" They are raised," is what constitutes the apparent 
" solecism" or example of " false syntax," alluded 
to in the fore part of this chapter. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE PRIMITIVE GOSPEL. 

The apostle Paul, in his first letter to the 
Christians at Corinth, takes up the subject of the 
resurrection, and treats it at considerable length. 
And it is a noteworthy fact that he prefaces his 
remarks with what, to the persons addressed, was 
fully equivalent to an extended account of Christ, 
especially as to His death, burial, resurrection, and 
subsequent appearings to his friends. Of course, 
the apostle does not put all this into a few brief 
paragraphs ; but he expressly and specially reminds 
the brethren that in his first discourses to them 
while with them, the topics presented were the 
great facts of the Gospel History, — so called, — 
which facts— , he also reminds them, — they, as 
Christians, *had received and believed. He lets 
them know, moreover, that, in similar circum- 
stances, the other apostles, as well as himself, fol- 
lowed the same style of sermonizing at that pre- 
sent time : 

"I declare to you the Gospel which I preached to you, which 
also ye have received. 

" I delivered to you, first of all, that Christ: 

died for our sins according to the Scriptures ; and that he was 

buried, and that he rose again the third day ; and 

that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve ; after that . . . 

of above five hundred brethren at once ; after 

that, of James, then of all the apostles. 

" And last of all he was seen of me also. 

" So we preach, and so ye believed." 1 Cor. xv. 1-11. 
24* 



278 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

The Corinthian brethren, by thus recalling, as 
they could scarcely avoid doing, the particular 
topics presented orally by Paul in his first sermons 
among them, must have been much better pre- 
pared than they otherwise could have been, to ap- 
preciate the propriety and force of his written 
argument for the actual resurrection of the dead, 
based upon the well-attested and, in their case, 
admitted fact of the actual resurrection of Christ. 

The writer of this work is strongly impressed 
with the conviction that something akin to 
apostolical preaching might not be altogether un- 
profitable in this the 19th century. Were such 
preaching at all common, the writing of this and 
of the three following chapters would, in his 
estimation, be far less needful than it is at present. 
He writes them with the hope that by the perusal 
of them, in connection w T ith the one immediately 
following them, the great gospel-divulged Fact of 
the existence of a resurrection world, where the 
human departed are living in a spiritual mode of 
being, may the more clearly and vividly be per- 
ceived by his readers to be a fact — an existing 
reality — a present verity — as really g,nd as verily 
such as is this earthly state. 

It is by no means probable that in tracing that 
part of the Gospel History which is the subject of 
the three following chapters, the writer will be so 
fortunate as to be altogether successful in the at- 
tempt to give the true order of events. From the 
fragmentary accounts left to us by those of the 
early evangelists who reduced to writing their 
respective Gospels, or Memoirs of the Saviour, it 
is no easy matter, if indeed the thing is at all possi- 
ble, to compile a continuous, coherent, consistent, 
not to say complete narrative of the Life of 
Christ, or even of any considerable portion thereof. 



THE PRIMITIVE GOSPEL. 279 

The object of the first gospel preachers, which 
was " to preach Jesus Christ/' could be very well 
accomplished without their taking the time and 
pains necessary to hunt up and collate an amount 
of testimony concerning our Lord's sayings, 
doings, and sufferings, that would enable them 
compendiously to present the whole in the exact 
order in which the events occurred. And later, 
when it became desirable to write the Gospel 
History, the requisite collection and comparison of 
testimony had come to be impossible, or well-nigh 
so, from the scattered condition of the disciples, 
and from other circumstances ; and so the work 
seems not to have been attempted — at least to any 
considerable extent. Accordingly, in various 
passages where the writers may seem, at first 
view, to be professedly giving a history of events 
in the order of their occurrence, it will be found, 
on an attentive examination, that it is only each 
particular group of events in which the order of 
events is even attempted to be given ; and that the 
several groups are presented in the order best 
suited to the narrator's plan of writing, which, in 
some instances, almost seems to have been the 
order in which those groups happened to come into 
mind. 

In Paul's synopsis of his Gospel, as he had preach- 
ed it to the Corinthians, I conceive that, for the 
most part, where he seems to be declaring the 
order of Christ's appearings after His resurrection, 
he is simply recounting the order in which himself 
had " delivered " certain separate accounts of such 
appearings. 

11 1 delivered to you, first of all," says he, " that 

Christ died, was buried, rose, .... 

was seen by Cephas/' (which is to say, Peter,) 
&c. Now when he goes on further to say, " After 



280 THE ANASTASIS OP THE DEAD. 

that, he was seen " &c., I can not but consider his 
meaning to be, u After that, I delivered that he was 

seen by above five hundred After that, 

that he was seen by James,' 7 &c. " And last of all, 
that he was seen by me." (See Chap, xxxvi.) 

It is manifest also, that when he says, " the 
twelve", he simply means, the apostles; and he 
seems to have explained to the brethren that not all 
of even the eleven apostles were present at the par- 
ticular interview mentioned ; for he afterward uses 
the expression, "all the apostles/ 7 that is, the eleven. 

In the accounts which the different evangelists 
give of the announcements of Christ's resurrec- 
tion to the female disciples, at his tomb, on Sun- 
day morning, there are several apparent discrepan- 
cies, not necessary to be mentioned here; and, in 
regard to the movements of Mary Magdalene, there 
is one real one. Yet in the narrative of Mark, 
who in writing his Gospel is supposed to have 
sometimes conferred with Peter, there occurs a 
statement in harmony with the narrative of John, 
who, as also Peter, was personally cognizant of 
her movements on that morning ; and by means 
of these, we are enabled not only to get at the 
actual facts of the case, but also to fully account 
for the said discrepancy, showing that it arose in 
the most natural manner, and thus that its existence 
detracts nothing from the credibility of the evan- 
gelists, it clearly evincing the entire absence of 
any collusion among them. Thus, 

Mark makes an isolated statement that Christ 
" appeared first to Mary Magdalene ", and that 
" she went and told those who had been with him." 
John narrates, at some length, that she went to the 
sepulcher or tomb very early, and seeing it open, 
ran and told Peter and him that Christ's body had 
been taken away ; that Peter and he visited the 



THE PRIMITIVE GOSPEL. 281 

tomb, found that His body was gone, and then re- 
turned home ; that she came back, saw two angels, 
and then saw Jesus ; that Jesus gave her a 
message to His " brethren " ; and that she accord- 
ingly went and told what she had seen and heard 
to " the disciples " in general. 

According to Matthew, Mary Magdalene and 
"the other Mary 7 ' went to the tomb together; 
and an " angel of the Lord " announced to them 
Christ's resurrection, and directed them to 
go and tell his disciples of it. According to 
Mark, this announcement and message were 
received not only by Mary Magdalene and an other 
Mary, but also by a woman named Salome ; 
and he makes mention of other " women/' 
and of " many other women," but does not ex- 
plicitly say that more than three visited the 
tomb. Luke relates that the women " who fol- 
lowed " Christ " from Galilee," " and certain others 
with them," visited the tomb, received a like an- 
nouncement from txco angels, and then returning, 
" told all these things to the eleven, and to all the 
rest." And seeing that he immediately adds, " It 
was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the 
mother of James, and other women that were with 
them, who told these things to the apostles," he 
therefore seems to say that all the women he had 
mentioned, — perhaps several tombfuls of them, — 
were within the tomb on the same occasion, and 
all at the same time ; and that they all saw the two 
angels standing among them, &c. 

The only real discrepancy which I perceive in 
all this, or at least the only one of any importance, is 
between the statement of John, that Mary Magde- 
lene went to the sepulcher, but immediately re- 
turned to inform Peter and him that the body of 
Jesus had been taken away, — and the concurrent 



282 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

statements of Matthew and Mark, that she went into 
the sepulcher accompanied by one or more, and 
there shared in the angelic communication as to 
Jesus' resurrection. But seeing she had agreed 
to be at the tomb on that morning, along with the 
other women; and seeing she actually did arrive 
there, in company with at least " the other Mary ; 7? 
and seeing she became conspicuous among those 
who spread the news of His having arisen; it is 
easy to see that the mistake of the first two evan- 
gelists was a perfectly natural one, and that it does 
by no means invalidate the testimony for His 
actual resurrection. 

In this and the three following chapters, refer- 
ences to Scripture texts are for the most part 
omitted. Every reader ought to be familiar with 
the Scripture accounts of our Lord's apprehension, 
examination, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascen- 
sion ; and every Bible reader is presumed to know 
that those accounts are to be found mostly in the 
closing portions of the four Gospels, the first 
chapter of Acts, and the beginning of 1st Cor. 
15th. And will my reader read over those ac- 
counts in connection with this and the three 
chapters following ? 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



,? , 



OUR LORD'S CRUCIFIXION, 

WITH VARIOUS PRELIMINARY AND ATTENDANT EVENTS. 

Jesus is in Bethany, near Jerusalem. The feast 
of the Passover is approaching. On Sunday morn- 
ing, the first day of Passover week, he rides into 
Jerusalem in the style of the first kings of Israel, 
and an immense assemblage of people, most of 
whom have come out from the city on purpose to 
meet him, hail " the Prophet of Galilee " as the 
son of David, and King of Israel, and some of 
them even spread their clothes upon the ground 
before Him. It is a proud day for those who 
believe in him ; since they are entirely confiduet 
that He is now about to ascend the throne of 
David, and thus to free their nation from Roman 
dominion, if not to make Judea the mistress of 
the world. 

* * * It isj Thursday. Though on His 
entrance into the city, four days ago, he took it 
upon him to correct sundry abuses in regard to 
traffic within the temple; though every day since 
then he has " taught openly ; ' therein ; though he 
has held discussions with the Sadducees and 
others, putting them all to silence ; yea, though 
he has unveiled the hypocrisy, and of course in- 
flamed the enmity of the ultra religionists of that 



284 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

age ; yet the great Sanhedrim, or chief Council of 
the nation, which long ago determined upon his 
apprehension, have not dared attempt arresting 
him publicly ; for " the people ?? are on his side, 
and from morn to night, have been crowding 
around him, to listen to his spirit-stirring words. 
In this posture of affairs, " Judas, one of the 
twelve/ 7 from apparently a complication of motives, 
agrees, for a consideration, to conduct them to 
the place of our Lord's evening retirement, and 
point Him out to them by night. 

It is Thursday evening. For the last few hours, 
what indescribable emotions have stirred his 
mighty yet sensitive mind ! The catastrophe of 
his mortal career, now so near at hand, is seen by 
him, in at least its main particulars, with terrible 
distinctness. Hence in eating the Passover with 
the twelve, he has instructed them thereafter to 
regard the broken bread and flowing wine as em- 
blems of his body marred and his blood spilled in 
the work of human redemption. He has an- 
nounced that one of them is about to betray Him. 
Judas having gone out, He has told the eleven that 
they will all falter in his cause that very night ; 
and Peter, that before another morning, he will 
even deny being His disciple. He has discoursed 
at some length about going away from them, and 
of the Father's sending them another Comforter 
or Helper. He has prayed with them, and for 
them, — for all who should thereafter believe on 
him, and for the entire world. 

Taking with him only Peter, James, and John, 
he retires to the garden of Gethsemane. Oh the 
depth and intensity of feeling with w r hich he now 
prays ! Can not the abuse, and ridicule, and 
shame, and extreme tortures, just awaiting him, be 
by some proper means averted ? Must he passive- 



285 

ly submit, even to death, without one attempt to 
shun such a fete ? " my Father " ! — are his 
words — " if it is possible, let this cup pass from 
me." 

An angel appears and strengthens him. The three 
witnessing disciples sink into a state of drowsiness. 
Evidently craving human sympathy, Jesus arouses 
them again, and again beseeching them to 
watch with him. He continues praying. He 
prays more and more fervently, till, in an agony 
of earnestness, he sweats as it were great drops of 
blood. A calm succeeds. He concludes his de- 
votions with, " my Father, not as I will, but as 
Thou wilt." " If this cup may not pass from me, 
Thy will be done. 7 ' 

A band of armed men approaches, led on by 
Judas, who points out our Lord as agreed on. 
Jesus goes quietly forth to meet them, and asks- 
whom they are in quest of. On their pronouncing 
His name, he calmly replies, " I am he." Back- 
ward, back, back, they recede, as if pushed by invis- 
ible hands, till, stumbling, they fall to the ground. 
Advancing again, and the same question being 
put, and the same answer returned, " if ye seek 
me" — said he, — "let these go their way/-' alluding 
to his apostles. They flee ; but Peter does not 
until after he has made a most determined assault. 
Jesus is taken, bound, and led away. 

After some little delay, he is brought before the 
Council ; but being charged with no capital offense r 
the high-priest, as president of the Council, ques- 
tions him concerning His teachings, &c, with the 
hope — , it would seem, — of His letting fall some- 
thing upon which such a charge might be found- 
ed. Jesus remonstrates against that manner of 
proceeding, and suggests that the proper course 
would be to call on those who had heard him. 
25 



286 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

For this He is struck by one of the officers in 
presence of the Court. 

Witnesses are at length found to testify against 
him ; but no two are able to agree as to what He 
has said that should render him deserving of death. 
The high-priest finally adjures him by the living 
God, to tell them whether he is really the Christ, 
the Son of God ; and on His admitting that fact, 
and declaring also that they shall yet see him at 
the right hand of God, he is pronounced guilty of 
blasphemy, and thus deserving of death by stoning. 
(Lev. xxiv. 16.) 

The soldiers have now full liberty to abuse him, 
by way of pastime, throughout the rest of the 
night. They accordingly spit in his face, — ad- 
minister brisk blows with the flat hand upon his 
ears or temples, — buffet him with the fists, or 
violently push him this way and that, — he is 
blindfolded, then repeatedly struck and called on ; 
as the Christ, to exercise his prophetic powers in 
telling who struck him, &c. In the morning early, 
(" the chief priests, and elders, and scribes, and 
the whole council," having previously held a con- 
sultation,) he is again bound, and, for the purpose 
principally, as appears, of having him suffer a more 
painful and shameful death than the Council have 
the legal power to inflict, is delivered over to 
Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, on a charge 
of treason for professing to be the Christ in the 
sense of a king. 

Pilate soon perceives our Lord's innocence as to 
this, learning from Him that his kingdom is not a 
worldly one. But he dares not take an inde- 
pendent, honest course, and so set Him at liberty, 
and, if necessary, protect him against those whose 
enmity is so apparent ; he therefore tries, by 
various expedients, to get rid of condemning him, 



our lord's crucjfixion. 287 

and yet not displease the Jews. He twice urges 
them, and the last time with much earnestness, to 
receive Jesus back, and deal with him according 
to their law. Their reply, the first time, when 
Pilate does not dispute our Lord's guilt, is to the 
effect that they can not lawfully punish treason, 
not having the legal right to inflict death in the 
manner proper to that offense. On the second 
occasion, when he strongly declares our Lord's 
innocence, they assure him, in substance, that they 
are not asking him to condemn an innocent per- 
son ; for that if he is not guilty of treason, he 
deserves to die, according to their law, for profess- 
ing to be the Son of God. This last excites 
Pilate's religious fears ; and the more as his wife 
has just sent to him, entreating him to have 
nothing to do with u that just man ", for she has 
just been greatly troubled because of him, in a 
dream. Learning that Jesus is from Galilee, he 
sends him to Herod, the ruler of that region, he 
being then in the city. The Jews accuse Him be- 
fore Herod ; Jesus makes no answer to Herod's 
questionings ; Herod treats the whole matter with 
levity, ridicules both Him and his pretensions as 
set forth by his accusers, causes him to be arrayed 
in a mock robe of royalty, and soon sends him 
back to Pilate. 

Pilate had proposed to release Jesus to the Jews 
on the score of granting a favor to the nation at 
that feast, as he had been wont to do. They had 
refused to accept him, and had even demanded in 
his stead the release of one " Barabbas ", a noted 
robber, who had also been guilty of insurrection 
and murder. After our Lord's return from Herod, 
Pilate again proposes to release him, adverting to 
the fact that Herod had found no fault in him any 
more than himself had ; and offering to have him 



288 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

publicly scourged for their gratification. He is 
answered by tumultuous shouts, " Not this man, 
but Barabbas. 7 ' On his asking, " What then shall 
I do with Jesus ?' 7 , they respond, " Let him be 
crucified. 77 To his remonstrance, " Why ? what 
evil hath he done ? ■"' the same response comes loud 
and long, " Let him be crucified.' 7 

Pilate now causes him to be scourged or 
whipped. This, at the hands of coarse, athletic, 
brutal, hardened men, in the midst of an intense 
popular excitement against Him, is, of course, no 
light infliction. He is then rearrayed in the regal 
purple ; a crown of some prickly plant is prepared, 
and is set upon his head ; a reed, or small stick, as 
an ensign of royalty, is placed in his right hand. 
With mimic gravity and reverence, the soldiers 
kneel before him, pronouncing, in measured accents, 
the salutation, " Hail king of the Jews ! 77 ; then 
scrambling up in the most disrespectful manner, 
they spit in his face, or snatch the reed-sceptre 
from his hand, and strike him upon the head. 

This sport being ended, Pilate again attempts to 
save him. He exhibits Him to them robed and 
crowned, reiterates His undoubted innocence, and 
talks as if confident of their consenting to His re- 
lease. He is answered by uproarious shouts from 
the people, who, " persuaded 77 and led on by the 
priests and others, loudly and clamorously voci- 
ferate, u Away with him ! Crucify him ! Crucify 
him. 77 Pilate still talks as if determined to release 
him ; but on its being said to him that by so doing 
he would show himself to be mimical to Caesar, he 
yields, as if from fear that a complaint may be 
made against him to the Emperor ; he washes his 
hands in the presence of the multitude, declaring 
himself innocent in regard to Jesus' death, and 
immediately issues orders for His crucifixion. 



OUR lord's crucifixion. 289 

From the common hall of the governor's house 
they " led him away to crucify him " ; and He 
" went forth bearing his cross " — carrying it on 
his shoulder according to custom. Yet " as they 
led [or were leading] him away, they laid hold 
upon one Simon, a Cyrenian ?', and " compelled ' 7 
him to carry it. 

Arrived at the place selected, the cross — , con- 
sisting of a post with a small beam fastened across 
it, — is laid in a convenient position on the 
ground ; four of the soldiers strip Jesus, and 
stretch him out, and hold him down upon the post 
or " tree " part of the cross ; his arms are extend- 
ed, and large nails are driven through his hands 
into the cross piece, and through his feet into the 
tree ; the structure is reared on end, and its foot 
placed in a hole dug for the purpose ; the earth is 
filled in and tightened around it ; and the crucified 
is guarded by the band till life is extinct. Two 
thieves are crucified with him. Jesus prays for 
his crucifiers, " Father forgive them ; for they 
know not what they do ". 

It is a public execution, and is witnessed by per- 
sons from all parts : of the country, who are in 
Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover. Mary, the 
soul-stricken * mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene 
also, and two other women, with John, the beloved 
disciple, are allowed to be within the ring of 
soldiers, near the cross ; his enemies — , the rulers, 
the elders, the chief priests, and scribes, — stand 
next outside the soldiery, or mingled with them ; 
the great mass of the people next ; and among 
them his friends and adherents in general ; — these 
last, especially the women, are overwhelmed with 
grief, weeping and bewailing his unexpected and 
sorrowful fate ; while the rulers, the elders, &c, 

* See Luke ii. 35. 

25* 



290 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

echoed by some of the people, taunt and insult 
him in the midst of his agonies. " Save thyself/' 
say they. " If thou art the Son of God, come 
down from the cross." u Let Christ, the king of 
Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may 
see and believe. " " Let him now come down from 
the cross, and we will believe him." Then, with a 
practical sneer, and a triumphant toss of the head, 
" He saved others ; himself he can not save ? \ In 
the midst of all this, Jesus calmly and affectionate- 
ly commends his mother to the care of John. 

He was placed upon the cross perhaps between 
9 and 10 A. M., — our time, — on Friday of the 
week. He released his spirit* at a little past 
3 P.M. 

During the last three hours of His sufferings, 
an unusual obscuration of the sun's light occurred 
all over that region; and a little before his spirit's 
departure, he gave utterance, in a loud voice, to 
the commencing words of the 22d Psalm in 
the original Hebrew. The ground in the vicinity 
shakes, as if in sympathy with the sufferer ; the 
veil of the temple is rent in two by an invisible 
force ; and other phenomena evince the propriety 
of the exclamations subsequently uttered by the 
Centurion and some of his soldiers, " Certainly 
this was a righteous man " — " Truly this was the 
Son of God." 

Just before his exit, he makes mention of being 
thirsty. Instead of giving him water, a sponge is 
dipped in vinegar, and reached up to his mouth on 
the end of a stick. This being done, he cries out 
once more with a loud voice, exclaiming, " It is 

* Matthew tells us that our Lord " released his spirit." The ex- 
pression of John is that he "surrendered his spirit." Luke in- 
forms us that Jesus said, " Father, into thy hands I commit my 
spirit;" and that having said thus, " he expired". Mark says 
simply that " he expired." 



OUR lord's crucifixion. 291 

finished ; " then calmly ejaculating, " Father, into 
thy hands I commit my spirit," he bows his head, 
and expires. The Centurion utters his convictions 
as stated ; and the people generally, struck with a 
sudden and painful convincement, smite their 
breasts and depart from the scene. 

The Sabbath, which commenced at sunset, is 
now near at hand, and the Jews have requested of 
Pilate, that the deaths of the malefactors may be 
hastened, so that their bodies can be taken from 
the crosses before the arrival of the Sabbath hour. 
Accordingly, with suitable implements, wielded by 
strong arms, swift and heavy blows are applied to 
the legs of the two thieves, breaking and crushing 
the bones, and of course bruising and mashing the 
flesh, thus causing an amount of pain almost cer- 
tain — , after five or six hours of crucifixional suf- 
fering, — to produce death in a very short time. 

Jesus being already dead, the breaking of his 
legs is omitted. One of the soldiers, however, 
stabs the yet warm corpse in its side with a spear, 
and blood and water issue therefrom, * — thus 
rendering it perfectly demonstrable, without actual 
inspection, — taking position into the account, — 
that the region of the heart was penetrated by the 
spear — a wound which undeniably would have 
produced death if he had not been dead before. 

Joseph, a rich citizen, now goes to the governor, 
and asks the body of Jesus for interment. Pilate 
wonders if he is so soon dead ; but learning from 
the Centurion that He has been dead some little 
time, he grants the request. 

The body is taken from the cross, hastily pre- 
pared for burial, and placed within a new sepulchre 

* John relates this, and affirms it as a thing which he positively 
saw and knew; and he appears also to have been aware of the value 
of the fact. John xix. 34, 35. 



292 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

or tomb, near by, hewn out in the side of a ledge 
of rocks, in a garden belonging to Joseph. Joseph 
is assisted by Nicodemus. A large stone, forming 
the door, is rolled to its place ; and his friends de- 
part — all that they have .hitherto hoped from him 
being, as it were, buried with him. Several of the 
female disciples witness his entombment. 

Subsequently, and without the knowledge of 
His friends, — excepting perhaps Joseph, — " the 
chief priests and Pharisees,' 7 with consent of the 
governor, cause a seal to be placed upon the door- 
way and stone in such a manner that the stone can 
not be removed without detection ; and a guard, 
of disciplined soldiers, is set to watch the tomb 
till after the third day. His enemies remember — 
what his friends seem to have forgotten — that 
Jesus predicted he would rise on the third day j so 
they take these timely precautions "lest" — , say 
they, — " his disciples come by night, and steal 
him away, and say to the people, " He is risen from 
the dead.' 7 

The Sabbath eve and the Sabbath night, suc- 
ceeded by the Sabbath morn and the Sabbath day, 
have now entirely passed. The hopes of the dis- 
ciples in regard to their late Master, are crushed, 
scattered, destroyed. He is dead, entombed, gone. 
That he is about to appear in life again, reveal- 
ing an other mode of being, enters not into their 
thoughts. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

our saviour's resurrection and his appearings to 
his disciples. 

The morn of Sunday is approaching. A consid- 
erable number of the female disciples, living or 
lodging at various places in the city and its sub- 
urbs, have agreed to meet at the tomb of Christ 
early in the morning, and bestow upon his body 
the custornaiy anointings, which want of time 
before the Sabbath had prevented being done on 
Friday. 

The morn is nigh. The women are waiting the 
dawn to start on their appointed visit to the tomb. 
They seem to know nothing of any guard having 
been set there ; but they have some anxiety as to 
how the ponderous stone door is to be removed. 

It is daybreak. An angel descends into the midst 
of the guard, advances to the entrance of the tomb, 
rolls back the huge stone from the door, and seats 
himself upon it. Seen in twilight, his face is like 
lightning, and his clothing as white as is snow. 
The ground in the vicinity is shaken ; the soldiers 
quake with fear, and are jparalyzed at his presence ; 
the angel soon disappears as if having entered the 
tomb ; the guards hastily disperse. 

The corpse is released from its envelopments, 
and becomes resuscitated, the spirit of Jesus re- 



294 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

suming the inhabitancy of His earthly body, though 
invested with a spiritual body also. 

Mary Magdalene and another Mary presently 
enter the garden, and approach near enough to the 
tomb to perceive that the stone has been removed 
from its doorway. Inferring from this that His 
body had been taken away, Mary Magdalene sets off 
immediately to communicate the supposed fact to 
Peter and John, whose lodgings are at no great 
distance. 

Just then several other women arrive, among 
whom is one named Salome,— and are much sur- 
prised to find that the stone has been rolled away. 
They and u the other Mary" enter the tomb. An 
angel informs them that Jesus has arisen as He 
said he should. He bids them observe where the 
body of Jesus has lain, and directs them to an- 
nounce His resurrection to the disciples, and to tell 
them that Jesus will meet them in Galilee as He 
promised to do. The women start off with this 
errand and soon separate into two companies, the 
Mary mentioned being in one company, and Salome 
in the other. Of Salome and those with her, it is 
said not only that they " fled from the sepulchre", 
and " were afraid" ; but also that " they trembled, 
and were amazed : neither said they anything to 
any one" ; that is, on their way. Of Mary and 
her company, it is stated that " they departed from 
the sepulchre with fear and great joy ; and did run 
to bring his disciples word". 

In the meantime, Mary Magdalene having inform- 
ed Peter and John that the body of Jesus has pro- 
bably been removed, the two apostles run hastily 
to the tomb. Entering, and finding only the linen 
in which the body was wrapped, they adopt her 
conclusion, and depart homeward. 

Mary Magdalene now arrives again at the tomb. 



our saviour's resurrection, etc. 295 

For a few moments she stands weeping at its 
low entrance ; then stooping, she looks within, 
and sees two angels, but does not perceive them to 
be such. They ask her the cause of her grief. 
She tells them it is that her Lord has been removed 
from the sepulchre, and she knows not where He 
has been laid. She then turns herself about im- 
pulsively, as though by some sudden attraction, or 
as if her eyes would inquire his whereabouts, when 
lo ! He is standing near her, though, for obvious 
reasons, she has no thought of its being her 
beloved and lamented Master. He too asks why 
she weeps, and also whom she seeks. Supposing 
him to be the keeper of the garden, who, of 
course, must be aware that a corpse had been 
placed in the tomb on the Friday previous, she 
does not give a direct answer, but offers to take 
charge of the body, if he has removed it, provided 
he will inform her where he has put it. Jesus 
pronounces her name in the thrilling tones of His 
well-known voice. She instantly recognizes him, 
utters the single word "Rabboni", — the name 
for religious Master or Teacher, — and makes a 
movement as if to embrace him. He directs her 
not to wait to even touch him, — for that He does 
not ascend to the Father just yet, — but to go im- 
mediately to the apostles, and inform them not 
merely that He has arisen, but also that He is soon 
to enter upon a heavenly life. She departs at 
once. 

The other Mary and Salome, with their com- 
panions, have now separated into two companies ; 
and Jesus shows himself to Mary and those* with 
her, who, overcome by their emotion, sink to the 
ground before him, and embrace his feet. Salome 
and her companions do not see him. 

In the meantime, and just subsequently to the 



296 THE ANASTASIS OF THE BEAD. 

second departure of Mary Magdalene from the 
tomb, an other company of women arrive, among 
whom is Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward. 
These also unexpectedly find the stone door rolled 
away ; they enter, and, not finding His body, are 
much perplexed. Suddenly they perceive, and 
with great surprise and fear, that two men " in 
shining garments ,? are standing by them. The 
bright ones address them kindly, however, and 
give them the same information, and substantially 
the same message, as a single angel had so lately 
given to the other women. These remember the 
words of Jesus, and depart. 

I All the women who have been at the tomb, Mary 
Magdalene among the rest, seek the other disciples, 
at their various abodes or lodging places, and re- 
late what they have seen and heard. The disciples 
in genera], apostles and all, are " slow of heart to 
believe. 77 

On the return of Joanna and her company, cer- 
tain other persons visit the tomb, and find that 
His body is indeed gone — they cannot tell where. 
On the return of these, and before hearing of his 
having been seen, Cleophas and an other disciple 
set out for Emmaus. 

In the course of the day Jesus is seen by 
u Simon/' alias Peter, but in what circumstances 
does not appear. 

Toward night, Jesus converses with the two 
disciples on their way to Emmaus, and points out 
to them some of the most striking prophesies re- 
lating to the Messiah's death and resurrection. H© 
is recognized by them at their evening meal ; but 
on their recognition of him he presently disap- 
pears. 

It is evening — the evening of the day whose 



our saviour's resurrection, Ac. 297 

early dawn beheld Christ's resurrection. 1 Cleophas 
and his fellow-disciples have returned with all 
speed to Jerusalem, to communicate what they 
have witnessed. They are greeted with the 
announcement, " The Lord is risen indeed, and 
hath appeared to Simon.' 7 A change has come 
over at least some of their minds. Mary 
Magdalene's declaration J of having " seen the 
Lord/' they had, with one consent, " believed 
not." The accounts of the other women concern- 
ing the angels, had " seemed to them as idle tales," 
But now Peter has seen him, and they are inclined 
to believe. While the two from Emmaus are giv- 
ing an account of their interview with him, He 
suddenly stands in the midst of the company^ and 
says, " Peace be to you." 

From the suddenness of His advent among thena, 
they are of course startled ; but it also happens 
that they are frightened, and even terrified at His 
presence, notwithstanding his pacific and most 
friendly salutation. Having entered the room 
" when the doors were shut," He is looked upon 
as a spirit j in the false sense of shade or phantom ; 
and they are afraid of such unrealities, they hardly 
themselves know why. 

Jesus proceeds to allay the fears of the disciples 
— not by denouncing their superstitions, but — by 
presenting indubitable proofs of His personal iden- 
tity, as also that his body is a substantial, tangible 
reality, and is the body with which they have been 
acquainted. Thus, he calls attention to his hands 
and his feet, in which the crucifixional nail-holes 
are freshly visible, — shows them his side, retain- 
ing the gash-like wound which the spear made by 
its entering diagonally, — invites them to handle^ 
or take hold of him, and thus know that he actual- 
ly has flesh and bones, — yea, he even takes food 
26 



298 THEANASTASIS OF THE BEAD. 

and eats in their sight. Their fears are now, for 
the most part, dissipated ; they are convinced that 
the presence before them is indeed He ; and sad- 
ness and despair give place to joy and hope. He 
now breathes on them with a quickening spiritual 
influence, — points out and explains some of the 
Scripture prophecies relating to His sufferings, 
death, resurrection, &c, — and says, "As My 
Father hath sent me, even so send I you." Ten 
of the apostles are present at this interview — the 
fifth manifestation of himself on the day of his 
resurrection. 

The apostle Thomas having been absent when 
Jesus showed himself to the other apostles, now de- 
clares himself totally incredulous as to our Lord's 
having been really present on the occasion alluded 
to — in like manner, as before that, the apostles 
had all declared themselves to be in regard to His 
having been really seen by some of the women. 
He does not doubt the honesty of his fellow-dis- 
ciples who say, "We have seen the Lord; 7 ' but 
then he is not to be convinced in the easy way 
they have been. The privilege of testing the 
matter by the sense of touch, he would have 
availed himself of — indeed, he must have just that 
test, and can not be convinced without it. He 
must not merely see the nail-prints, but he must 
put his finger into them, — yea, he must even in- 
sert his hand into the spear-wound, — else he 
" will not believe.'' 

About a week after, at a meeting of the apostles 
in Galilee, " as Jesus had appointed them " f 
Thomas being present, our Lord, with His charac- 
teristic " Peace be to you," comes suddenly into 
their midst, as on the former occasion, " the doors 
being shut," in like manner as before. " Then 
saith He to Thomas ; " Reach hither thy finger, 



OUR saviour's resurrection, &c. 299 

and behold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand, 
and thrust it into my side ; and be not faithless, 
but believing." 

Thomas utters a couple of exclamations, or 
broken sentences, " My Lord ! and My God " ! * — 
the former expressive of surprise, recognition*, and 
entire convincement, as if he had begun to say, 
"My Lord ! it is indeed Thou" ! — the latter indicating 
utter astonishment and superlative admiration, as 
if he would have said, " My God ! how great is 
Thy power !" Jesus now gently reminds Thomas 
that after all his talk about testing the matter by 
the sense of touch, he has, like the rest, believed 
from seeing Him. He then pronounces a special 
benediction upon those who had believed without 
actually seeing him, — thus administering a deli- 
cate reproof to the other apostles, as well as to 
Thomas, for discrediting the testimony of persons 
who saw Him before tliey did. " Thomas/' — he 
affectionately says, — " because thou hast seen 
me, thou hast believed: blessed are those who 
have not seen, and yet have believed." 

Soon after the meeting of the eleven in Galilee, 
and while as yet they are in that region, Jesus 
shows himself to seven of the apostles " at the sea 
of Tiberias," as they are engaged in fishing. He 
draws forth from Peter — , who had denied Him 
after His apprehension, — a thrice-repeated and 
most solemn avowal of his love for Him, makes 
known His entire confidence in that apostle by 
committing to him a full share of the pastor- 
ship of His church, intimates Peter's ultimate 

* " My Lord! and My God"! These two exclamations are 
usually taken for one quiet, unimpassioned remark; and they are 
pointed as though such, in the Common Version. But the ex- 
pression is manifestly an exclamatory one; and I am convinced that 
the word " and " is the language — not of Thomas, but — of John, 
saying that Thomas said thus and thus. 



300 THE ANASTASIS OF THE BEAD. 

martyrdom, and gives all to understand that 
John shall remain on earth until His second 
coming. 

During the next two or three weeks, the 
apostles and other disciples, having become not 
only convinced of our Lord's actual return to life, 
but also somewhat accustomed to his presence in 
his risen state, seem to have been favored with 
repeated visits from Him, in which He " showed 

himself alive by many infallible proofs," and 

also discoursed to them " of the things pertain- 
ing to the kingdom of God," 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 
Christ's ascension. 

It is Thursday, six weeks from the time of the 
Passover festival — the 40th day since Jesus arose 
from the dead. 

He has assembled his disciples, in the city of 
Jerusalem, seemingly for some special purpose. 
The impression prevails — , as on the day when he 
rode into the city in triumph, — that He is now 
about to set up His kingdom, enforce his claims to 
the Messiahship, and enter upon His universal and 
perpetual reign. It is therefore asked of Him, 
" Lord, wilt Thou, at this time, restore again the 
kingdom to Israel ? " 

He declines an explicit answer, yet intimates that 
the whole subject will be made clear to them soon 
— when the Holy Spirit shall have come upon 
them. For this they are to wait a few days, re- 
siding in the city meanwhile ; and then, being 
" endued with power from on high, 7 ' they are to 
preach the gospel every where, and be His " wit- 
nesses " all over the earth. 

He now conducts his followers out from the 
city to within the precincts of Bethany, on the 
further side of the Mount of Olives. Several hun- 
dred persons are by this time gathered around 
him. With uplifted hands, he blesses them, after 
26* 



302 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

the manner of the ancient patriarchs. Yet in all 
He says, he drops not a hint that they are about 
to witness a miracle; much less does he announce 
what it is that is so soon to happen. 

Saying nothing of various undefined and per- 
haps conflicting emotions, who can adequately con- 
ceive the surprise, the astonishment, the wonder, 
the deep sense of sublimity, felt by those who wit- 
nessed the unexpected, unthought-of phenomenon 
of our Saviour's visible ascension ? — the most 
stupendous miracle, no doubt, whose whole pro- 
gress was ever observed by mortal eyes. 

They are standing near Him. He is blessing 
them — discoursing to and of them, and of their 
duties and fortunes. He ceases speaking. * * * * 
Is it an allusion? No, — He is actually up from 
the ground. He rises. Now He is above their 
heads, — now, above the houses, — now, the trees. 
Gracefully, and majestically does He ascend, as if 
borne aloft by angels. Smaller, and still smaller, 
appears His figure, as He goes, steadily, up, up, 
up, — higher, higher, higher, — till suddenly en- 
veloped by a cloudy His beloved form is lost to the 

sight. 

* * % * # 

Gone, and so suddenly ! Will He be visible 
again ? Will He ever return ? 

The whole company very naturally continue 
looking, — peering up into the region where they 
last saw Him, — till, after a little time, their atten- 
tion is arrested by the discovery that " two men in 
white apparel " are quietly standing among them 
as if belonging to their number. Their presence 
being observed, they say to the disciples, " Ye 
men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into 
heaven ? This same Jesus who is taken up from 
you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as 
ye have seen Him go into heaven." 



CHRIST'S ASCENSION. 303 

The disciples return to Jerusalem, and wait for 
the descent of the Holy Spirit. Under its influ- 
ence, they, in their preaching, allude to the history 
and death of Jesus, testify to the fact of His re- 
turn to life, teach that He exists in an incorrupti- 
ble state, and that he has been exalted to the 
dignity of a Heavenly Prince, in whose name they 
exhort to repentance, and promise the remission 
of sins. In the words of Luke, their historian, 
" with great power gave the apostles witness of 
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. " 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



PROOFS OF A FUTURE LIFE. 

What are the principal evidences going to estab- 
lish the fact of an after-death life for man ? 

A good argument in support of the proposition 
that man is destined to an other life, is deducible 
from the fact that persons in all ages and in all 
countries have thought about it. The answer which 
a little girl is reported to have made to a skeptical 
philosopher, when he asked her why she thought 
she had "a soul," was, in the circumstances, a 
superlatively excellent one, whether the philosophy 
involved therein was, by the child, fully understood 
or not. " Because I have," replied she. The gist 
of this was, that if she had not had a soul, she would 
not have thought of having one. It should be ob- 
served here, that this phraseology about having a 
soul or not having one, was once the current lan- 
guage for destined to live after death, or destined 
to perish. 

It is known concerning the ancient heathen 
gods and goddesses, that, originally, in the view of 
their most orthodox worshippers, many, if not all 
of them, were but deified men and women, in an 
extra-mundane state of existence. Indeed, it is in- 
disputable, that in civilized countries, if in no 
others, men have very generally believed, with 
more or less clearness and strength of faith, in 



PROOFS OF A FUTURE LIFE. 305 

some sort of life beyond the present. And this 
general tendency to a belief in another life, shows 
that it is natural for men thus to believe ; and 
therefore that man's nature is adapted to such a 
life. But if so adapted, then such a life is ; for it 
is entirely obvious that there can be no adapta- 
tion of one thing to an other, unless not merely 
the one thing, but also the other thing, has an 
actual existence. 

Future existence may be after a sort admitted, 
and a separate or individual state, after death, de- 
nied, — it being argued that the life of each person 
returns to the common Source of life, as a drop of 
water becomes mingled with the ocean. If along 
with this idea, the doctrinal authority of the Scrip- 
tures would be admitted, — as was the case with 
the Sadducees in connection with their notions, — 
the argument employed by our Saviour against the 
Sadducees' doctrine, based upon the Scripture ac- 
count that the Lord said to Moses, " I am the God 
of Abraham," &c, would be found to be perfectly 
conclusive against this doctrine also. The fact 
that Jehovah was the God of those patriarchs 
long after they had left the earth-life, proves, in- 
dubitably, that they, though dead as to their bodies, 
were yet truly living, and — of course — in a 
separate or individual state. But if they, then 
others, then " all." 

Of the same kind as our Saviour's anti-Sadducean 
argument, is one drawn from the presence of 
Moses and Elias on the mount of our Lord's trans- 
figuration. Those two ancient prophets had each 
a separate existence at that time, of course ; and 
why was not this the case with each other of the 
then departed ? And why is not the same thing 
true of all, at all times ? 
In the estimation of at least the primitive 



306 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

Christians, the strongest evidence that had ever 
been given to man for the reality and certainty of 
the after-death life, was furnished by the resurrec- 
tion of Jesus Christ. He had been actually dead 

— of this there could be no reasonable doubt. It 
was entirely certain, too, that after His death he 
had become actually alive again. And though He 
had reanimated his earthly body, and thus given 
infallible proofs of his identity, it was yet a per- 
fectly clear case that His rising was not a mere 
return to this mode of being, but was a physical 
manifestation of the fact that He had been induct- 
ed into a higher and more spiritual mode of being. 
He could enter and leave a room with closed doors, 

— could appear, disappear, and reappear, at 
pleasure, — seemed subject to no inconvenience 
from a wound in his fleshly body quite inconsistent 
with mere earthly life, — and at last was seen to 
leave the earth in an upward direction, ascending 
against the force of gravity, far into the serial 
regions. Thus was an after-death spiritual state 
clearly revealed, convincing evidence of its ex- 
istence having been presented to the intellect, 
partly through the medium of the physical senses, 
from the circumstance of His reassuming his physi- 
cal organism, as if an habitual wearer of " sack- 
cloth " or canvas should put on outside garments 
of that kind of stuff over a full new suit of the 
finest fabrics. 

It is indisputable that in regard to life after 
death, the primitive Christians, on becoming 
Christians, became possessed of such a hope as 
they never had had before. And Peter instructs 
us that they became heirs to that hope by or 
through the fact of our Lord's resurrection: 

11 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who hath begotten us again to a lively hope by the 



PROOFS OF A FUTURE LIFE. 307 

resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance 
incorruptible," &c. 1 Pet. i. 3, 4. 

Paul also — , when his "language is rightly 
rendered, — speaks of Christ as being, through 
His resurrection, a first-fruit or sample of the de- 
parted, adding, in effect, that Christ, by His being 
raised, shows the resurrection of the dead, in like 
manner as. at the first, some man, through the 
fact of his dying, showed the death of the living : 

" Christ has been raised from among the dead, a sample of 
those having slept. For since through a man, the death, 
through a man, also, the rising of the dead," 1 Cor. xv. 20, 21. 

In the last verse of the above passage, the 
Common Version supplies the word " came " ; so 
that we read, " For since by man came death, by 
man came also " &c. To me, the expression " was 
shown ", or "was sampled", is what is there 
understood ; for the sense of the text seems to me 
to be such as would be indicated by the following 
version : 

" For since through a man [was shown] the death [of the 
living], through a man, also, [has been shown] the rising of 
the dead." 

When Adam was told by the Creator that he 
must suffer dissolution, he was also told, in effect, 
that this was a result of his bodily constitution. 
" Dust thou art," said the Lord God, " and unto 
dust shalt thou return.' 7 Thus was he virtually 
informed of his being constitutionally mortal, as 
well as of the certainty of physical death to him- 
self and all his race. But as we have no account 
that any person died during the first one hundred 
years of man's life on' the earth, the murder of 
Abel, in the fore part of the second century, being 
the first recorded instance of human death, it 
seems altogether likely that — ; healthy and vigor- 



308 THE ANASTASI8 OF THE DEAD. 

cms as,* in those days, all probably were, — the 
specimens of humanity then extant had about as 
much faith in the ultimate death of the human 
body as, in later times, their physically diseased 
and enervated descendants have had in the con- 
tinuous life of the human spirit. Yet if it was 
true that in the early times the event of human 
death was considered ever so probable, or even 
quite inevitable, this also must have been true : — 
when, for the first time, some human being was 
found to be certainly and irrecoverably dead, the 
solemn fact of man's mortality was, by the be- 
holders, more clearly realized than it previously 
could have been ; — the convincement that all must 
sooner or later die, came to be more strong, if not 
more general, than it ever had been before. The 
sight of a human body devoid of life, showed, as 
in a glass, the {destiny of the race ; since it can 
not but have been seen that, in consequence of 
possessing one common nature, whatever, as a 
fixed result of that nature, is absolutely cer- 
tain to one of the race, is, for the same reason, 
absolutely certain to all. It might therefore, in 
later times, have been truly and aptly said that 
Abel " brought death and mortality to light, 
through the Law," or Mosaic history, which re- 
cords his decease, — even as Jesus is declared to 
have " brought life and immortality to light 
through the Gospel/ 7 or Evangelic history, which 
makes known His resurrection. 

The fact of an after-death life,' in a higher mode 
of being, would doubtless have been believed by 
some, even though Christ has not been raised to 
mortal view. Yet those who saw Him after his 
resurrection, and especially those who also wit- 
nessed his ascension, must certainly have had a 
stronger faith, a livelier hope, a clearer spiritual 



PROOFS OF A FUTURE LIFE. 309 

perception, than they possibly could have been 
possessed of before. The palpable fact that, after 
death, a human being had come to inherit an other 
and higher life, must have been viewed to be — 
what indeed it was — evidence approaching the 
clearest demonstration, that such a. life is the ap- 
pointed inheritance of all. 

It should not be overlooked in this connection, 
that Jesus Christ promised special spiritual assist- 
ance to his apostles — (bestowed also upon others, 
but principally through the apostles, — ) such as- 
sistance as we may be quite certain must have 
enabled them to draw from the Gospel facts correct 
and needful conclusions. In Christ's name, the 
Holy Spirit — the Comforter or Helper — even the 
Spirit of truth — was to be sent from the Father, 
for the express purpose of assisting them pro- 
fessionally — by bringing to their remembrance 
whatever of truth our Lord had taugfrt them, — by 
instructing them in those truths which He had 
foreborne to teach for the reason that they could 
not then bear them, — by doing for them, in regard 
to Christian doctrines, all that is promised and im- 
plied in the statement, " he will guide you into 
all [the] truth ; " — " whatever he shall hear, that 
will he speak/ 7 &c, &c. (See John's Gospel, 
Chaps. 14, 15, 16.) 

In Paul's first letter to the Corinthian brethren, 
some of whom had denied the resurrection of" the 
dead, at least in word, he remonstrates warmly 
with them for their inconsistency in rejecting this, 
while they admitted the resurrection of Christ. 
And he argues, and reargues, and argues again, 
that it was just as certain that the dead are raised 
as it w 7 as that Christ had been raised. And his 
argument obviously proceeds upon the grounds 
that Jesus and we possess one common nature; 
27 



310 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

also, that rising or being raised, # both in His case 
and in ours, is as truly a normal process as is 
dying, — the one, no less than the other, being a 
natural result of the constitution given to man at 
his creation. Of course, the miracle of Christ's 
resuming his fleshly body for a very special pur- 
pose, is not embraced in his argumentation. He 
is obviously reasoning upon general principles : 

" Now seeing Christ is preached that He has been raised 
from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no 
resurrection of the dead? Because if there is not any rising 

of the dead, it follows that Christ has not been raised. 

We have testified concerning God, that He raised Christ ; 
whom He did not raise, if, by any means, the dead are not 
raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not 

been raised Then, those also have perished who 

have fallen asleep [hoping] in Christ." 1 Cor. xv. 12 — 18. 
(See our next chapter.) 

In the primitive Christian times, death by cruci- 
fixion was regarded as a most disgraceful death ; — 
more disgraceful, indeed, than death by hanging is 
now ; — and, of course, no small amount of odium 
had become attached to the idea of being follow- 
ers of a man who had been thus put to death. To 
acknowledge as a religious leader, one who, by any 
mode of death, had publicly suffered as a malefac- 
tor, would have been deemed disgraceful enough ; 
— but to be followers, religiously, of a cross- 
hanged culprit, a Jew, and a Nasarene at that, who 
had been led to the tree by the urgent demand ot 
the chief men of his own nation, — how scandal- 
ously disgraceful ! Surely, " the offense of the 
cross," which Paul makes mention of as having to 
be encountered in the Christian course, must, 
practically, have been no insignificant matter. 
He who, in those days, openly and faithfully 
preached " Jesus Christ and him crucified," must 
obviously have had some nerve, some decision ol 



PROOFS OF A FUTURE LIFE. 311 

character, some independence of mind, some love 
of truth, some regard for the best interests of 
mankind, some attachment to the cause of Christ, 
some sense of duty to God, some reliance upon 
spiritual aid. 

There were those in the days of Paul who 
propagated the Christian doctrine with consider- 
able zeal ; yet, to escape " persecution for the 
cross of Christ," they sought, by a strict observ- 
ance of Jewish rites, to have themselves and their 
converts be regarded as Jews. It was, in part, 
from this motive, no doubt, that in that age, and 
especially later, the alleged facts of the immortality 
of the soul, the pre-existence of souls, and other 
speculations of the heathen philosophers, were 
sometimes presented, in heathen countries, as 
Christian grounds of faith' and hope, while the 
great fact of our Lord's resurrection was kept, for 
the most part, out of sight, it being unavoidably 
associated with the disgraceful fact of His public 
crucifixion. 

From the apostle's argumentation, in 1st Corin- 
thians, upon the topic of the resurrection, it clearly 
appears to me that the following view of the 
subject is substantially the one which he had in 
his mind : 

The resurrection or anastasis of the dead has 
been occurring all along, ever since human death 
entered the world ; so that there has been an un- 
broken series of resurrections from that time down 
to the present. Connected with this series, was 
the resurrection of Jesus Christ,, forming an im- 
portant link in the great resurrectional chain. 
Had He not been the Messiah, he would have been 
raised in the manner in which Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob had been ; — not out from among the dead, 
but as it were along with them ; — that is, not 



312 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

superinvested with a fleshly body, but having a 
spiritual organization only ; — and His rising and 
theirs, being equally imperceptible through the 
medium of the external senses, would have been 
equally unknown and unbelieved. Bat one great 
object of God in the mission of the Saviour, was 
to reveal, clearly and satisfactorily, the long un- 
credited fact that "the dead are raised " — that 
they are " living " in another mode of being. It 
was accordingly arranged in the Divine wisdom, 
that the Christ should suffer death publicly, and be 
entombed openly ; that the fact of His being 
actually dead, as to this body, should be placed 
beyond all controversy by his body's receiving, 
after its life had departed, a ivound which unde- 
niably would have caused the departure of its life; 
that the tomb or sepulcher containing His remains 
should be sealed up by his enemies, and guarded 
by a band of disciplined soldiers, professedly to 
prevent his body's being removed ; and that His 
friends should be known to have no idea of his 
returning to life, much less to life immortal. On 
the third-day morning, He took on his fleshly 
body over his spiritual organism ; and subsequent- 
ly, by being seen, heard, and handled, and by 
various other surprising manifestations, " He 
showed himself alive," and this too in more than a 
mere earthly sense, " by many infallible proofs." 
His being known to have arisen, he being one of 
the dead, and in all respects, as to nature, like 
them, evinces that they rise also, notwithstanding 
from the circumstance that they possess only 
spiritual bodies, the fact of their rising is not cog- 
nizable by the external senses. His resurrection 
being one particular in a series, one link in a chain, 
to learn its existence, is to learn the existence of 
the whole concatenation. The chain is, indeed, 



PROOFS OF A FUTURE LIFE. 313 

naturally invisible and intangible ; but it pleased 
God to render one of the links sensible, by invest- 
ing it with corporeality ; and the cognition of this 
through the senses has rendered the entire chain 
cognizable by the spiritually enlightened intellect. 

With the foregoing view of the subject, what 
could have been more forcible, and more to the 
purpose, than Paul's argument? — If Christ has 
been raised from the dead, then the dead are 
raised — If the dead are not raised, then Christ 
has not been raised — But Christ has been raised, 
and so it is a fact that the dead are raised. 

The primitive Christians, especially the apostles 
and their fellow-laborers, having been thus fur- 
nished with the most convincing and satisfactory 
proofs of the reality and certainty of the after- 
death life, in an incorruptible, immortal, and 
spiritual mode of existence, — and having been 
favored also with spiritual influences to an ex- 
traordinary extent, — became, by these means, so 
changed in their views and feelings as that, in the 
figurative language of those times, they were 
described as having been born again, as having 
been even begotten anew, as having been exalted 
from the present into a higher mode of life : 

" Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incor- 
ruptible, by the word of God." 1 Pet. i. 23. 

" Who hath begotten us again to a lively hope, 

by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Pet. i. 3. 

" And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together, 
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Eph. ii. 6. 

Conceiving of Jesus in heaven fas a veritably 
existing, living, thinking, knowing, feeling, acting 
entity, just as we conceive of some well-known 
friend recently gone to reside in an other locality, 
— regarding Him in his exalted state as a real 
human being, — lately in the earth-life, but now 
27* 



814 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

celestialized, — lately " obedient to death/' but 
now immortalized, — the first believers came, ere 
long, to regard themselves also as heavenly im- 
mortals, (that is, in embryo,) possessing a nature 
identical, of course, with His who was " made in 
all things like his brethren " : 

" Of the posterity of David according to the flesh, and de- 
clared to be the Son of God with power by a resurrec- 
tion from the dead." Rom. i. 4. 

" Sons of God, being sons of the resurrection." Luke 
xx. 36. 

" As manv as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of 
God." Rom. viii. 14. 

" The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we 
are children of God." Rom. viii. 16. 

" Now are we children of God ; but what we shall be has 
not yet been manifested ; we know, however, that, when it 
shall have been manifested, we shall be like Him ; for we shall 
see him as He is." 1 John iii. 2. 

Looking no longer upon mankind as mere 
animal beings, but, through the medium of their 
faith, discerning the spiritual element in each speci- 
men of humanity, they, as if by a new birth, open- 
ed their eyes upon as it were a new world, peopled 
with new inhabitants^ 

" Henceforth we know no one after the flesh ; yea, though 
we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him [in 
that manner] no more. Therefore if any one [is] in Christ, a 
new creation [is perceived by him] ; the old things have pass- 
ed away ; lo ! all things have become new." 2 Cor. v. 16, 17 

Note. Intimately related to this department of our subject, 
are several highly important and interesting moral topics, the 
discussion of which belongs not properly to this work. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

AN IMPROVED TRANSLATION 



k NEWLY TRANSLATED 
OUT OF THE ORIGINAL GREEK ; AND WITH THE FORMER TRANSLA- 
TIONS DILIGENTLY COMPARED AND REVISED," WITH PRE- 
LIMINARY REMARKS AND APPENDANT NOTES. 

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 

1. In the following translation, the modern arbitrary 
divisions called " verses ", are marked simply by figures 
interspersed among the words, — not by the common method 
of printing each verse as a separate numbered paragraph. 
p 2. Supplied words and points, instead of being printed for 
the most part in Italics, as in the Common Version, are put 
in brackets [, thus]. They therefore may be very easily dis- 
tinguished, and — if the reader so pleases — omitted. In one 
paragraph, (verses 42-44,) the supplies are all placed in the 
left-hand half of the column. 

3. Should the reader choose to omit the supplied words, — 
which, of course, he is at liberty to do, even in reading the 
Common Version, — he will find the others to be so arranged 
(in this version) as that, when read without the supplies, they 
make the best sense the difference in idiom between Greek 
and English admits. 

4. As in other translations, so in this, some variations in 
phraseology are made from the original ; yet in this, as not in 
other translations, the more important of such variations are 
marked, in the text, by the presence of one or more words in 
Italic. The necessity for some such variations, so apparent to 
all translators, may be understood by the mere reader from a 
mention of the circumstance that in verse 19 a literal render- 
ing involves a manifest absurdity : " we are more to be pitied 
than all men." 

5. Over and above the remarks relating to the matter of this 
chapter, occurring elsewhere in this work, sundry notes are 



316 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

appended from words and phrases by Italic letters, which notes 
may be worth the reader's notice. 

6. The 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians being perhaps as im- 
portant, in a doctrinal point of view, as is any one chapter in 
the New Testament, the author of this work requests his 
readers, for their own sakes, each one to read over the follow- 
ing version of said chapter several times, both with and with- 
out the supplied words, and each time in connection w T ith the 
Common Version, being careful also to note the supplied 
words in that. Of course the reader will understand that, in 
this translation, a word or phrase in brackets should not there- 
fore be read as a parenthesis ; nor is a a word or phrase in Italics 
commonly emphatic. 

Chap. XV. Also, I state to you, brethren, the 
Gospel which we preached to you, which also you 
received, in which also you have stood, 2 through 
which also you are saved, provided you [still] hold 
the doctrine which we announced to you in ser- 
mons, (a) unless, by an exception, (&) you beiieve 
to no purpose. 

3 For I set forth to you, in the first ones, (c) 
what also I received, that Christ died for our sins, 
in accordance with the Scriptures ; 4 and that he 
was buried, and that he has been raised the third 
day, in accordance with the Scriptures ; 5 and that 
he was seen by Peter ) then by [most of] the apos- 
tles. (jP) 

6 Afterward, [I set forth that] (e) He was seen 
by above five hundred brethren at once of whom 
the greater number remain until now, while some 
have fallen asleep. 7 Afterward, [that] He was 
seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 And, 
last of all, [that] He was seen by me also, as by 
one born out of due time. 

9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not 
worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecut- 
ed the Church of God. 10 Yet, through the grace 
of God, I am what I am; and His grace, as [be- 
stowed] upon me, was not [bestowed] in vain ; 



AN IMPROVED TRANSLATION. 317 

but I labored more abundantly than all of them; 
not I, however, but the grace of God as [thus] 
with me. n Therefore, whether I or they [do the 
work], so we preach, and so you believed. 

12 Now, seeing Christ is preached that He has 
been raised from the dead, how do some among 
you say that there is no resurrection (/) of the 
dead ? 13 Because if there is not any rising (/) of 
the dead, it follows that Christ has not been raised. 

14 And if Christ has not been raised, idle, of course, 
[is] our preaching, and idle, also, your faith. 

15 Yea, also, we are found false witnesses [as to the 
doings] of God ; in that we have testified concern- 
ing God, that He raised Christ ; whom He did not 
raise, if, by any means, the dead are not raised. 

16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has 
not been raised. n And if Christ has not been 
raised, worthless [is] your faith ; you are still in 
your sins. 18 Then, those also have perished who 
have fallen asleep [hoping] in Christ. 19 If we 
have hope in Christ solely in regard to this life, we 
are the most to be pitied of all men. 20 In the ex- 
isting (g 1 ) state of things, however, Christ has been 
raised from among (Ji) the dead, a sample of those 
having slept. 21 For since through a man, [was 
shown] the death [of the living], through a man, 
also, [has been shown] the rising (/) of the 
dead. 22 For even as all die in [connection with] 
Adam, so, also, shall all be quickened in [connec- 
tion with" 
quickened 



Christ. 23 But every one [shall be 

among the band to which he belongs : 

Christ, [is] a sample [of the present band] ; after- 



ward, [are] those [who shall be quickened through 
the agency] of Christ, at His arrival. 24 Then, 
[is] the end, — (i) at which time He will deliver 
up the kingdom to God, even the Father, — at 
w T hich time He will have overruled all rule, and 
all authority, and power. 



318 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

25 For he must reign till he shall have put all 
enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to (j) 
be struck down, [is] death. 27 For He " put all 
things in subjection under His feet." Yet when 
it says, [ (in amount,) ] " Ail things have been put 
in subjection/' manifest [is this], that excepted, 
[is] He having put all things in subjection to 
Him. 28 And when all things have submitted to 
Him, then also will the Son himself submit himself 
to Him having put all things in subjection to Him, 
that God may be all in all. 

29 Indeed, what shall those do who are baptized 
in reference to (k) the dead, if the dead are not 
raised at all ? Why, then, are they baptized in re- 
ference to (&) them ? 30 Why, also, do we place 
ourselves in peril every hour ? 31 I protest, by the 
feeling of pride which I have as to you, in regard 
to Christ Jesus our Lord, I am [, in liability,] put 
to death daily. 

32 Although, [speaking] in relation to men, I en- 
countered wild beasts at Ephesus, what advantage 
[is it] to me ? If the dead are not raised, let us 
eat, and let us drink, for to-morrow we are no 
more. (J) 

33 Be not deceived ; evil associations corrupt 
good habits. 34 Arouse yourselves in the manner 
requisite, and sin not ; for some are ignorant of 
God, I speak [this] to your shame. 

35 But some one will say, " How are the dead 
raised ? and with what body do they come ? " 
36 Foolish one ! that which thou sowest is not 
quickened, if it does not die. 8T And [in sowing] 
that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body 
which will spring into being ; but [thou sowest] a 
mere kernel ; perhaps [a kernel] of wheat, or 
[, perhaps,] of some one of the other grains ; 38 and 
God gives a body to [the germ within] it, accord- 



AN IMPROVED TRANSLATION. 



819 



ing as He willed ; also, to each of the seeds, [He 
thhs gives] its proper body. 

39 (Not all flesh, [is] the same flesh [in kind] ; 
but one [kind of flesh], [is the flesh] of men ; and 
an other flesh, [is that] of beasts ; and an other, 
[that] of fishes; and an other, of birds. 40 Also, 
[tuere are] heavenly bodies, and [there are] 
earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly, 
[is] one, and that of the earthly, [is] another. 
41 Of the sun, [there is] one glory ; and of the 
moon, an other glory ; and of [each of] the stars, 
an other glory ; for star differs from star in glory.) 
43 In like manner also, 



is brought about 

that pertaining to us which 
is symbolized by a kernel of 
grain, 

that within us answering 
to what becomes unfolded 
into a plant, 

the foimer of these 

the latter 

the former 

the latter 

the former 

the latter 



the raising (/) of the dead : 

is sown in corruptibility ; 

is raised in incorruptibility ; 43 

is sown in dishonor ; 

is raised in glory : 

is sown in weakness ; 

is raised in power : 44 

is sown an animal body ; 

is raised a spiritual body. 



There is an animal body, and there is"a spiritual 
body. 45 And so it has been written [that] tho 
first "man" — Adam — "became a living ani- 
mal ; " (m) the last Adam, [has become] (n) a 
quickening spirit. 46 Not first, however, [was] the 



320 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

spiritual One ; but on the contrary, the animal One ; 
afterward, the spiritual One. 47 The first man, 
[was] from the earth, earthly ; the second man, 
[is] from heaven, heavenly, (o) 48 As [was] the 
earthly One, such, also, [are] the earthly ones ; 
and as [is] the heavenly One, such, also, [are] the 
heavenly ones. 49 And in like manner as we took 
on the image of the earthly One, we shall also take 
on the image of the heavenly One. 50 Yea, I say 
this, brethren, that flesh and blood can not inherit 
the kingdom of God nor does corruptibility inherit 
incorruptibility. 

51 Lo ! I tell you a secret : We shall not all sleep 
indeed, (j?) yet we [who shall not sleep] shall all 
be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an 
eye, at the last trumpet ; for a trumpet w T ill sound, 
and the dead will have been raised incorruptible, 
and we shall be changed. 53 For this, [which is 
clothed with] the corruptible, must be clothed with 
incorruptibility ; and this, [w 7 hich is clothed with] 
the mortal, [must] be clothed with immortality. 
54 So when this, [which is clothed with] the cor- 
ruptible, shall have been clothed with incorrupti- 
bility, and this, [which is clothed with] the mortal, 
shall have been clothed with immortality, then will 
have been brought to pass the saying which has 
been written, [that] " Death is swallowed up in 
victory." 

53 Death, where [is] thy sting? Unseen state, 
where [is] thy victory? 56 Now the sting of 
death, [is] sin ; and the strength of sin [is] the 
law. 57 But thanks [be] to God, The One giving 
us the victor}^, through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

58 Now therefore, my beloved brethren, be stead- 
fast, immovable, always abounding in the work of 
the Lord, knowing that your labor in [conjunction 
with] the Lord, (#) is not in vain. 



AN IMPROVED TRANSLATION. 321 

NOTES. 

(a) " Announced to you in sermons." Same as " preached 
to you," in verse 1. The more diffuse rendering is pdopted in 
verse 2, as heing conducive to a readier understanding of an 
expression in verse 3, namely, " in the first ones." ■ 

(6) " Unless, by an exception/' The word " ektos" here 
rendered " by an exception," is the one rendered " excepted" 
in verse 27. In this place, it is usually not rendered at all ; 
unless its sense is considered as included in the word " un- 
less," the entire phrase, " ektos ei me " being thus rendered by 
this one word. But the two particles ei me = if not, are fully 
equivalent to " unless ; " hence, in this regard of the " authori- 
ties," who perhaps had no clear perception of a present salva- 
tion, I venture to give this word a separate rendering. (By an 
exception.) 

(c) " In the first ones." This obviously imports " in the first 
sermons " or " discourses." 

(cZ) " [Most of] the apostles:' In Greek, " the twelve," — 
a metonymical expression for the apostles, not necessarily in- 
cluding the entire number. And that not all of even the 
eleven apostles were meant to be represented by Paul as hav- 
ing been present at the interview adverted to, is evident from 
his soon afterward mentioning " all the apostles." (Verse 8.) 
It is for this reason that I supply, in verse 5, the subtractive 
expression, [" most of."] 

(e) " [I set forth that]." I supply these words in verse 6, 
from a settled conviction that the apostle is not here declaring 
the order of Christ's appearings, but is simply recounting the 
order in which himself had " set forth " such appearings, or 
the chief of them. For the same reason I supply " [that] " in 
verses 7 and 8. See Chaps, xxxi., xxxiii. 

(f) "Resurrection " — "Rising " — " Raising." From the 
same word, (Anastasis.) This imports, literally, a re-stand- 
ing, or standing again, or a causing of some one to do so ; 
which is to say a rising, or a raising ; but it by no means im- 
ports a re-rising or raising, — a rising or raising again, — as 
may seem to be indicated by the Latin-English word resurrec- 
tion. See Chap. ii. of this work. 

(g) " In the existing state of things." Literally, " at this 
very time " — equivalent to " in the now present state of 
things," and implying, of course, their existing state, as con- 
trasted with the hypothetical or non-existing state of things 
presented in verses 13-19. 

28 



322 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

Qi) " From among the dead." Same as " from the dead " in 
verse 12. The less concise rendering is given in verse 20, for 
the purpose of presenting the apostle's argument in — as near 
as may be — its original force. See Chap. iii. of this work. 

(i) " Then, [is] the end." See last chapter of this work, at 
the close of which this sentence — printed in a somewhat dif- 
ferent manner — is quoted as a fitting fin ale. 

(j) " To be struck down." The Greek here is usually ren- 
dered into the indicative future ; but as the sense seems to re- 
quire the infinitive, I employ it — the present in a future sense. 
N. B. The rendering in the Common Version is equivalent to 
the infinitive : " The last enemy that shall be destroyed," &c. 

(k) "In reference to." This rendering is purposely less 
specific than the original. From our ignorance as to what par- 
ticular circumstances are here alluded to, the original is, to us, 
ambiguous, and hence, in effect, indeterminate. We know not 
whether the sense intended is, "in behalf of the dead," or "in 
place of the dead; " — -I therefore give a rendering which is 
consistent with either sense, and so not specifically equal to the 
one, nor to the other. See the Commentaries. 

(Z) " We are no more" Greek, " we die." But, in this text, 
the apostle evidently uses " die " in the no -future-life sense — I 
therefore translate as above. Compare verse 18. 

(m) " A living animal." Commmonly rendered " a living 
soul" as in Gen. ii. 7. The apostle manifestly quotes that 
text, at least in substance ; but the word " soul," as Moses is 
there made to use it, indisputably signifies " creature," if not 
" animal ; " — yea, since the part there described is certainly 
man's bodily structure, it is plain that the full sense is "earthly 
creature," to express which idea, " animal " is the best word 
we have. For the various significations of psuche, here ren- 
dered " animal," and commonly rendered " soul," see Chap. ii. 
Observe, also, that the apostle contrasts the first man with 
Christ, who — he tells us — is " a quickening spirit" 

(n) " [Has become]." Though these two words are marked 
as a supply, they are not wholly so. The expression rendered 
" became," in the first part of the text, is a verb with a pre- 
position following it ; and in the last part of the text, though 
the verb is omitted, the preposition is retained, — as if one 
should say in English, The first " man" — Adam — " was made 
into a living animal ; " the last Adam, into a quickening spirit. 

(p) " From heaven, heavenly." The reading of the standard 
Greek text in this place, is, " the Lord from heaven," as in the 
Common Version. And though a majority of the external 



AN IMPROVED TRANSLATION. 323 

evidence is in favor of such reading, I cannot resist the con- 
viction that the autographic reading was " from heaven, hea- 
venly." But the question is one of minor importance. 

(p) " Shall not all sleep, indeed." The particle " men" 
which I here render " indeed," is commonly not rendered in 
this text at all. It may indeed be a mere expletive, here ; yet 
I can not so consider it. A delicate shade of meaning it has, 
indeed ; but — to me — it is by no means meaningless. 

(q) " In [conjunction with] the Lord." See 1 Cor. iii. 9 ; 2 
Cor. vi. 1. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

THE END OF HUMAN MORTALITY. 

As has been abundantly shown in the course of 
this work, especially in Chap, xxxv, the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ from among the dead furnishes 
unequivocal and decisive proof that a spiritual 
immortal life awaits each mortal of the human 
race. Yet connected with the subject of man's 
ultimate destiny, are certain questions not quite 
devoid of interest, to which the fact of his having 
been raised furnishes no adequate answer. For 
example, 

1. Will there always be, as now, human beings 
on earth in a state of mortality, coming into ex- 
istence here, sojourning here for a time, and then 
departing into the unseen state ? 

2. If so, how can death ever be " swallowed up in 
victory " ? and thus " the last enemy' 7 be destroyed, 
as the Scriptures so plainly teach ? Besides, as 
we learn from the first chapter of Genesis, it was 
a purpose of God in the creation of man, that this 
earth should ultimately be replenished or filled up 
— which, in this case, is to say overspread — with 
human inhabitants ; and in the ages after (or in 
deed at any time after) the earth shall have become 
thus peopled to fulness, how will it be possible for 
human beings to find for themselves sufficient 
elbow-room, and provide for themselves a sufficient 



THE END OF HUMAN MORTALITY. 325 

amount of food^ to say nothing of other necessaries ? 
And being straitened in these, how shall the work 
of physical, intellectual, moral, and religious pro- 
gress continue, so that the other " enemies " shall 
be put under Christ's feet, and there remaih? 

3. If there will not always be human beings in 
this mortal state, how will the race be disposed of? 
Will its immense numbers be removed by death ? 
or will they be " translated," as were Enoch and 
Elijah ? Will the earth be depopulated suddenly ? 
or will its inhabitants disappear in gradual succes- 
sion, till the last one shall have no fellow-mortal to 
witness his exit? 

If we had no special revelation upon this sub- 
ject, it seems to me that to the above and some 
similar questions, all our reasonings, from not only 
the Great Fact above mentioned, but from all the 
facts within our acquaintance, might fail of furnish- 
ing a clear and satisfactory answer. Yet what is 
to be the ultimate destiny of the race, is a question 
of some interest, as well as what is to be the 
destiny of an individual of the race. According- 
ly, — so I understand the Scriptures, — an express 
revelation was granted to the apostle Paul touch- 
ing this very subject, — the matter of which reve- 
lation he communicates in the words following, 
according to the Common Version : 

" Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot in- 
herit the kingdom of God ; neither doth corruption inherit in- 
corruption. Behold, I show you a mystery ; we shall not all 
sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twink- 
ling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, 
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be 
changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible 
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put 
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that 
is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." 1 Cor. xv. 
50-54. 

28* 



326 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

" But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, con- 
cerning those who are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as 
others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died 
and rose again, even so those also who sleep in Jesus will God 
bring with .him. For this we say to you by the word of the 
Lord, that we who are alive and remain to the coming of the 
Lord shall not prevent those who are asleep. For the Lord 
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice 
of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in 
Christ shall rise first : then we who are alive and remain shall 
be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the 
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 
1 Thess. iv. 13-17. 

The passages just cited are supposed to teach — , 
and in stronger and more direct terms than do any- 
other Scriptures, — the doctrine that the immortal- 
ization of all mankind, from Adam down to the 
latest last-born of the race, is, at some period 
hereafter, to take place simultaneously, or at least 
in very nearly the same instant of time. Yet that 
those passages really teach a future simultaneous 
rising of all the dead, and especially that such 
rising is to happen at the time when shall occur 
the revealed change of all the living equivalent to 
dying and rising, the writer of this is quite unable 
to believe ; and he will present, in this place, at 
least one special reason for such inability. 

The change of which the apostle speaks, is to 
take place u in a moment, in the twinkling of an 
eye, at the last trump." If, now, the rising of all 
the dead is also to take place " at the last trump," 
then, of course, both the resurrection and the 
change are to happen within the one brief period 
designated, (Literally, " an atom," or an ultimate 
particle, not susceptible of division.) And yet 
the apostle assures the brethren, and this too, as 
he claims, " by the word of the Lord," that the 
dead are all to be raised before any of the living 
are to experience the change mentioned. It is 



THE END OF HUMAN MORTALITY. 327 

thus a matter of actual revelation, that the former 
of these operations is to be wholly accomplished 
before the latter is to be begun ; and, provided the 
interpretation in question is certainly correct, it is 
also a matter of actual revelation, that the said 
operations, separately and consecutively, first the 
one, and then the other, are to be commenced, and 
carried on, and consummated, in as brief a space 
of time as is taken up by the involuntary act of 
shutting and opening the eye ! 

" I show you a mystery ; [or secret:] "We shall not all sleep, 
but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of 
an eye, at the last trump." 

" this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who 

are alive shall not prevent [or precede] those who are 

asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven . . . 
. . . with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise 
first : then we who are alive shall be caught up," &c. 

The rising mentioned is thus clearly to happen 
before the other event ; that is, it is to happen 
u first," and the other is not to " prevent," precede, 
or be before it. How long first is it to happen? 
A fraction of " an atom " of time — partly as long 
first as it takes the eye to twinkle ! I have never 
meant to be unreasonably hard of belief ; but, 
verily, it is quite impossible for me to yield 
credence to the idea that a special revelation was 
granted to the apostle for the mere purpose of 
making known so insignificant a circumstance as 
this. 

My view of the passages will now be presented : 

The " coming " of Christ, as liere mentioned, I 
take to be — not his figurative, virtual coming, 
arrival, or presence, at the close of the Jewish 
age, but — a literal, personal coming, arrival, and 
presence, at the close of the Christian age. Some 
of my reasons follow : 

1. When Jesus ascended from the side of mount 



828 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

Olivet, it was said to the disciples, " This same 
Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall 
so come in like manner as ye have seen him go 
into heaven. 7 ' This language unequivocally pro- 
mises a bodily coming. If His attested ascension 
was a literal, personal going up, His then predicted 
descension was to be a literal, personal coming 
down. 

2. In the passage in hand from Thessalonians, 
the apostle announces that " the Lord himself shall 
descend from heaven. 7 ' This, to me, is as if he 
had said, " The Lord Jesus personally. ;; 

When the apostle says, " We shall not all sleep/* 
his meaning manifestly is, that not all the race will 
die, sleep being put for physical death. Yet when 
to this denial he appends the affirmation, " but we 
shall all be changed 7 ', I do not understand him as 
declaring that all the race will be changed, but 
only as declaring that those will be changed who 
shall not sleep (or die), and who, of course, will 
not be raised (or awaked). As if he had said, 
" we shall not all sleep, yet we [who shall not 
sleep] shall all be changed.' 7 Among my reasons 
for thus limiting the reference of his second pro- 
position, is the circumstance that — seemingly in 
explanation — he presently adds, " the dead shall 

be raised and toe shall be changed.' 7 It is 

easy to see that, in this text, " we 7 ' and " the 
dead" are placed in entire and exclusive contrast, 
neither company including any part of the other. 

An apparent discrepancy exists between the 
teachings of verses 51 and 52 ; but — , to say the 
least of it, — such discrepancy appears none the 
less real if we adhere to the interpretation usually 
given, than it does if we adopt the one herein 
offered. Indeed, upon my view of their import, 
the latter verse is manifestly explanatory of the 



THE END OF HUMAN MORTALITY. 329 

former; — as if the apostle, not quite satisfied with 
the expressions in verse 51, (/' we shall not all 
sleep, but we shall all be changed/') put forth the 
latter part of verse 52 partly to fix their meaning. 
(" The dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we 
shall be changed.") Note. It argues nothing 
against Paul's inspiration, if he — a Jew — was not 
always able to express his ideas in Greek with 
entire clearness, off-hand. And employing an 
amanuensis, as he for the most part did, it is 
obvious that he would not be likely to pre-study 
every expression ; and in case what he had dictated 
were perceived to be faulty, might he not more 
easily dictate an explanatory remark, than oversee 
an erasure and emendation? 

The raising of the dead, in whole, is obviously a 
future work ; and a future work it must constant- 
ly be till the last one shall have been raised. The 
use of the future tense in the affirmation rendered 
" the dead shall be raised," is therefore as clearly 
proper upon the view that we are raised at death, 
as it is upon any other. And there are at least 
two good reasons why the verb " to be raised " 
should here be put into what might be called the 
perfect future tense, — indicating a future time 
having the same relation to some other future time 
that the perfect has to the present, — so that the 
text, when properly translated throughout, shall 
read, " for a trumpet will sound, and the dead will 
have bee?i raised incorruptible, and we shall be 
changed." Thus, 

First. Paul distinctly affirms of the change men- 
tioned, that it shall be " at the last trump " ; and 
he as distinctly affirms of the rising mentioned, 
that it shall be " first." This plainly makes the 
time of the resurrection to be anterior to the 
sounding of the trump, as has been before argued. 



330 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

Second. In Corinthians, the apostle applies the 
present tense to the resurrection a dozen or more 
of times before he speaks of the trump and thq 
attendant change. When, therefore, he speaks of 
the raising of the future dead, he must have view- 
ed them as certain to be all raised by the time the 
trumpet should sound. Note. A rendering like 
the one proposed, and for a similar reason, occurs 
in the second verse following : u So when this 
corruptible shall have put on" &c. 

The foregoing remarks upon the text, " We 
shall not all sleep/' &c, are made upon the well- 
nigh unquestionable position, that the present read- 
ing of the text/ namely, 

" Pantes men ou koimethesometha 
pantes de allagesometha," 

is, every jot and tittle the same as was the 
autographic reading. The author of this work is 
far from taking the opposite of this position ; but 
it has been suggested to him as a not unreasonable 
conjecture, that in the autograph of this epistle, 
the adjective pronoun navies — pantes, all, did not 
occur in the second line of this text, but only in 
the first line ; and that in the second line, instead 
of this word, the adverb navrrj — pante, wholly, 
was the term employed. Were this the existing 
reading, it would be the more readily seen that the 
expression " hoi me koimethesomenoi " = the ones 
who shall not sleep, is really understood in the 
second line, thus making the sense to be, u We 
shall not all sleep, indeed, yet we [who shall not 
sleep] shall be wholly changed. 7 ' Note. It is un- 
questionably the body that dies literally, or that 
sleeps in the sense evidently here intended. (See 
Chaps, ii, x, xii.) It must therefore be entirely 
clear that the change in mention relates directly to 



THE END OF HUMAN MORTALITY. 331 

bodily organization ; so that being " wholly }9 
changed would, in this place, import merely taking 
a body of which the animal one forms no part. 

N. B. So little does the above-mentioned con- 
jecture affect my argument, and with so little favor 
is every thing of this sort usually regarded, that I 
should not have noticed it here, were it not that 
the apparent discrepancy existing between verses 
51 and 52, would by such a reading be wholly or 
mainly done away. 

As to the text in Thess., "we shall be 

caught up together with them/' <fcc, which is 
taken to mean that the raised dead, as well as the 
changed living, are to be caught up, I observe that 
the import of the original is — not this, but — 
simply that the living are to be caught up at once, 
or without delay ; and that in the act of going to 
meet the Lord in the air, they shall come to be 
with the raised dead, whom God will "bring" 
with the Lord. " In the clouds," is rightly " in 
clouds ", that is, in multitudes. 

I offer the following as a correct translation of the 
passage in mention ; though a less literal one, in 
regard to some of the expressions, might probably 
be preferable : 

"But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning 
the ones having fallen asleep, that ye be not grieved in the 
same manner as the rest, the ones not having a hope. For if, 
as we believe, Jesus died and arose, so, also, will God, through 
Jesus, bring with him the ones having fallen asleep.* For this 
we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we, the ones 
living, the ones remaining until the arrival of the Lord, shall 
by no means precede the ones having fallen asleep. For the 
Lord himself, with word of command, with voice of archangel, 
and with trumpet of God, shall come down from heaven : (but 
the dead shall have been raised in Christ f first:) upon which 

* More literally, "For if we believe that Jesus died and arose, so 
also will God," &c. 

t "In Christ." For some remarks upon this phrase, see Chap. v. 



832 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

we, the ones living, the ones remaining, shall at once be caught 
up, in clouds, along with them, in going to meet the Lord in 
the air j and so we shall always be with the Lord." 

In perfect accordance with the foregoing view 
of the apostle's teachings, is the circumstance 
that he does not teach the absolute universality of 
either death or the resurrection. He indeed de- 
clares that " as in Adam all die, even so in Christ 
shall all be made alive " or quickened ; but he does 
not affirm that all shall be raised, nor yet that all 
will die. The perceptible fact that all do die, is in 
no way inconsistent with the position that not all 
ivill die. So, also, being quickened, or made alive, 
is clearly distinguishable from being raised ; for 
the Saviour says, " The Father raiseth the dead, 
and quickeneth." * It therefore is evidently quite 
possible for all and each to be quickened or made 
alive with celestial life, and rendered incorruptible 
and immortal, although, at the last, some shall not 
die, — figuratively, shall not sleep, or fall, — and 
so, of course, are not represented as being to be 
awaked, or raised, but only to be changed. 

In accordance, too, with the doctrine that all die, 
and are raised, and of course also, are quickened, 
yet that, at the last, some shall be celestially quick- 
ened without dying and being raised, is the fact 
that in 1st Corinthians, immediately upon declaring 
that all shall be made alive, or quickened, the apos- 
tle adds, " But every man in his own order ;" — 
properly, " band/ 7 or " company: " — thus intimat- 
ing that, as regards the circumstances attendant 
upon our celestialization, the great army of human- 
ity consists of more than one division. The pas- 
sage, without supplied words, is literally as fol 
lows A 

" For even as all die in Adam, so, also, shall all be quicken- 

* For some remarks upon the quickening process, see Chap* iv. 



THE END OF HUMAN MORTALITY. 333 

ed in Christ. But every one among the band to which he be- 
longs : Christ, a sample ; afterward, those of Christ at His 
arrival. Then, the end, — at which time," &c. 

The circumstance adverted to by Paul in Thessa- 
lonians, that " Jesus died and arose/' with the im- 
plied fact of His being " quickened/ 7 (which fact 
Peter expressly mentions/) constitutes our Saviour 
a sample or specimen of mankind in general: and 
these compose one band or company j while those 
who are to be changed, and of course to be quick- 
ened, make up an other. That we shall die, we 
infer as certain from the fact that those of former 
generations have died, Jesus among the rest, and 
so have many of our contemporaries. That " the 
dead are raised," and that we shall be raised, is a 
like inference from various considerations, but 
more than all else, from the stupendous Fact that 
God raised Christ. Says Paul, — by a proper ren- 
dering, — " Christ has been raised from among the 
dead, a sample of those having slept." 

Jesus Christ is to reign in His kingdom " till he 
shall have put all enemies under his feet ; — which 
is to say, till He shall have destroyed, immolated, 
or struck them down; — and the last one — we 
learn — will be "death." The destruction of 
death is to be effected instantaneously, and by 
what may be called miraculous agencies ; that of 
the others, by the gradual and slow process of 
physical, intellectual, moral, and religious reform, 
in connection with individual, societal, national, 
and cosmical progress. But the destruction of 
death by the change mentioned, is not to take 
place until all other enemies shall have been dis- 
posed of; — we may, therefore, be entirely certain 
that the persons then alive on the earth will be 
such as Christianity aims to make mankind, — which 

1 1 Peter in. 18. 

29 



334 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

circumstance may perhaps have some relation to 
the fact that after saying is Christ, a sample/' the 
apostle at once subjoins, u afterward, those of 
Christ at His arrival." Earth's human inhabitants 
will doubtless then be " of Christ 77 in the highest 
earthly sense, by being in the highest earthly sense 
like Him. 

In regard to death's being an u enemy, 77 we are 
competent to understand that at any time prior to 
the change mentioned, . mankind, whatever their 
degree of improvement, or however strong and 
clear their faith, will still be corruptible and mortal 
— as truly so as are we. At some period in man's 
earthly history, death may not only be painless, 
but it may also be believed so to be ; it may, at 
that period, have become divested of the very last 
vestige of those terrors with which ignorance, 
superstitions, and wrong-doing have hitherto in- 
vested it; — yet it can not then be an entire 
stranger, any more than it is even now ; nor can 
the decay incident to old age be altogether absent, 
any more than it is at present. In the happiest of 
those happy days near the close of the Saviour 7 s 
blissful reign, when all on earth shall live in love 
and harmony ; and when long life shall be the cer- 
tain inheritance of all; — the dear, venerable, 
age-surviving, many-times-great Grandparents, the 
objects of so much esteem and reverence from 
their multitudinous descendants, and whom their 
literally aged Children (, with their children and 
children's children of far distant degrees,) will 
love so well, and so well love to do for, must at 
length come to be weak in body, and somewhat en- 
feebled in mind, — must, at last, inevitably leave 
vacant the Center of the family circle. May we 
not rationally conclude that, even in that millennial 
age, death will still be considered an evil? the more 



THE END OF HUMAN MORTALITY. 335 

so, perhaps, as the evils then existing will be com- 
paratively few and slight, will be rapidly diminish- 
ing in number, magnitude and intensity, will, ulti- 
mately, be reduced to this alone ? 

The following text seems to require some expo- 
sition in this connection. I give it a more literal 
rendering than does the Common Version : 

" For this, the corruptible, must be clothed with [or clothe 
itself with] incorruptibility ; and this, the mortal, be clothed 
with [or clothe itself with] immortality. 

Just what it is that is here alluded to as being 
corruptible, or what it is that is alluded to as being 
mortal, is not directly said ; but the corruption 
and the death implied, are evidently physical. The 
verb which the Common Version here renders 
" put on," relates to clothing, and has a form adapt- 
ed to the reflective sense ; as, to clothe itself with, 
to envelop itself in, &c. ; but it is not commonly- 
supposed that the apostle intended to convey more 
than the mere jussive sense of being- clothed with. 

The Greek of the passage (, in Roman letters,) 
is, 

" Dei gar to phtharton touto endusasthai aphtharsian, kai to 
thneton touto endusasthai athanasian." 

It will thus be seen by even the mere reader of 
Greek, that the phrases commonly rendered " this 
corruptible " and " this mortal," are, literally, 
" this, the corruptible," " this, the mortal." And 
according to a well-known Greek idiom, the ex- 
pressions, "the corruptible" and "the mortal '*' 
may import the abstract ideas of corruptibility 
and mortality. In 2d Cor. v. 4, the only place in 
the Common Version where " mortality " occurs, 
this word is actually a rendering of " to thneton/' 
the very expression usually rendered "mortal" in 
the text under consideration. 



336 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

Let it now be supposed and — for the time — 
admitted, that in the Greek of the text in hand, as 
given above, an expression importing the thing 
clothed with, or the thing enveloped iD, is really 
understood, in each line, after " touto " = this. 
The true sense of the original, then, — and a very 
reasonable sense, too, — must be such as would be 
indicated by the rendering given below, " the cor- 
ruptible " and " the mortal v being taken to mean 
corruptibility and mortality : 

" For this, which is clothed with the corruptible, must be 
clothed with incorruptibility ; and this, which is clothed with 
the mortal, must be clothed with immortality." (See the pre- 
ceding chapter, where the supplied words in the above are put 
in brackets.^ 

I am quite aware, however, that the reader may 
not be at all disposed permanently to concede the 
point, that in the text in hand such an expression 
is really understood as I have above supposed. 
Let us then consider the text as it stands: " This 
corruptible must put on," &c. ; or " This, the cor- 
ruptible, must be clothed with," &c. ; or, perhaps, 
" must clothe itself with/ 7 &c. 

Is it the soul or spirit of man which is to be thus 
clothed or is to clothe itself with incorruptibility 
and immortality ? If it is, then the spirit must be 
not only mortal, as some hold, but also corruptible, 
or liable to putrefaction, as nobody holds. 

Is it to be supposed that this mortal and cor- 
ruptible body of flesh and blood, is — actively or 
passively — to be invested with incorruptibility 
and immortality, like a poor perishable mushroom 
encased in a net-work of fine gold, thickly set with 
the costliest and most splendid of precious stones ? 
Not only does common sense give her voice in the 
negative, but the apostle, three verses previous, as 
if for the express purpose of forestalling so un 



THE END OF HUMAN MORTALITY. 337 

reasonable a supposition, premises thus : " Now 
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood can not 
inherit the kingdom of God. 77 Note. In this text, 
the expression " kingdom of God " seems to bear 
an unusual sense, and refer exclusively to the 
celestial state. 

As has been shown, the phrases commonly here 
rendered " thin corruptible " and " this mortal ", 
are, literally, "this, the corruptible 77 , "this, the 
mortal" ; and an adjective of the singular number, 
preceded by what we call the definite article, may 
be equivalent to an abstract noun. With this in- 
terpretation, (no word or phrase being understood 
by which the sense of the text is at all mollified,) 
the affirmation of the apostle here is, "This cor- 
ruption [or corruptibility] must put on [, or be 
clothed with, or clothe itself with,] incorruption 
[or incorruptibility] ;" and so of tl\Q latter half of 
the text. But such can not be the sense intended 
to be expressed ; for, aside from the fact that such 
a sense would be closely akin to nonsense, the 
apostle, after making the allegation just cited as 
to flesh and blood's having power to inherit the 
kingdom of God, subjoins, in unequivocal language, 
" neither doth corruption [or corruptibility] in- 
herit incorruption [or incorruptibility.] 

Is it man, generically, that, by action, or by 
reception, is to be thus clothed ? Perhaps the 
language of the text, taken by itself, might bear 
this interpretation ; but the two following con- 
siderations are quite sufficient to show that such 
can not possibly have been the apostle's meaning: 

1. Such an interpretation would suppose that 
the apostle viewed the resurrection to be ex- 
clusively future ; whereas, as we have seen, he un- 
equivocally taught, after the manner of the Saviour, 
that " the dead are raised.' 7 See Chap, xxviii. 
29* 



338 THE ANASTASXS OP THE DEAD. 

2. To say of the earthly living, that they are 
mortal and also corruptible, — liable to death, and 
also to corruption, — is clearly an appropriate re- 
mark ; but to speak of those who both died and 
H saw corruption " thousands of years ago, as 
being still corruptible and mortal, — what is it but 
nonsense of the sheerest kind ? 

If the text is to be taken as not at all elliptical, 
that is, as requiring in English no supplied words 
for the better expression of its actual sense, — and 
this may perhaps be the fact, — then the true 
reference of the text must be seen to be — not to 
mankind in general, but — to those, and to those 
only, who shall be alive on the earth at the close 
of Christ's reign on the earth. Then, too, its 
language must be descriptive of events after the 
manner of their apparent character, and not strict- 
ly according to philosophical reality. The text, as 
thus viewed, is clearly seen to be no part of the 
apostle's general argument, based upon the resur- 
rection of Christ, but to belong to the disclosure 
the " mystery" or secret he had just announced, 
namely, that not all the human race will die and be 
raised, yet that those who will not, will experience 
an instantaneous equivalent change. And in this 
view of the text, may not its language be descrip- 
tive of the change mentioned, as such change 
really looked to Paul w T hen the process was shown 
to him — as it likely had been — in vision or other- 
wise. 

If the word " body " is to be considered as un- 
derstood in the text, in such manner that its sense 
is, " this corruptible [body] must be clothed with 
[or must clothe itself with] " &c, then, most 
certainly, its language describes things and events 
in the light of their appearance only ; and the 
reality concealed under such appearance can hard. 



THE END OF HUMAN MORTALITY. 339 

ly be supposed to be any other than this, that, as 
in the case of mankind in general, so in the case 
of those who shall not die and be raised, the 
corruptible and mortal body of each is destined to 
be superseded by an incorruptible and immortal one. 

Suppose the change in mention to consist in 
parting with the earthly body, (and of course with 
its life,) and in having a heavenly one in its stead,* 
duly quickened with celestial life ; suppose the 
earthly body to be, — as the Apostle elsewhere tells 
of, — " dissolved/' or resolved into invisible atoms ; 
and suppose all this to transpire — , as he here says, 
— " in the twinkling of an eye." The rationale of 
the change would then seem to be, that the spiritual 
body is developed interiorly, and becomes celestial- 
ly quickened ; the animal body is dissipated ex- 
teriorly, and at once perishes ; — this body is now 
in view, the next instant, that. Would not such a 
process naturally look to a beholder as if the 
animal body took on the spiritual one, or became 
enveloped in it? — thus calling to mind the w T ords 
of the prophet where he tells of death's being 
" sivallowed up in victory " ? 

In that text already adverted to, where alone the 
word " mortality " occurs in the Common Version, 
the apostle not only mentions " to thneton " = the 
mortal, as he does in the text in hand, but he also, 
as here, uses the word rendered " swallowed up," 
speaking of "the mortal" as destined to be 
" swallowed up by life." He also, as in the text in 
hand, seems to set forth that the heavenly body is 
to be taken on over or in addition to the earthly 
one, using a word rendered " clothed upon ", 
which word, primarily, has specific reference to the 

*" In its stead." The words rendered "shall be changed" in 
1 Cor. xv. 51, 52, sometimes signifies to exchange, or give one 
thing for an other. 



340 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

putting on of one garment over an other. See 
Chap. xxi. 

The change in mention is unquestionably to be 
effected by the power of God; but this power 
seems to have been delegated to Christ, he being, 
in his heavenly state, denominated " a quickening 
spirit. 7 ' 

And in the original of the phrase from Paul, 
6i those of Christ at His arrival,' 7 the first three 
words, commonly rendered " those who are 
Christ's,' 7 I conceive to be an elliptical expression 
for what w T ould be properly rendered " those who 
shall be quickened through Christ,' 7 that is, through 
the agency of Christ. I thus deem the true sense 
of the passage to be substantially such as is indi- 
cated by the following translation, which — it will 
be perceived — is, in part, a paraphrase : 

"For even as all die in connection with Adam, so, also 
shall all be quickened in connection with Christ. But every 
one shall be quickened among, the band to which he belongs : 
Christ, is a sample of the present band ; afterward, are those 
who shall be quickened through the agency of Christ, at His 
arrival. Then, is the end, — at which time he will deliver up 
the kingdom to God," &c. (See the preceding chapter, where 
the supplied words are duly marked.) 

The mode of operation in the production of the 
revealed change, may, by some, be accounted as 
wholly unrevealed, and, by others, (very possibly,) 
as none of our business. I however venture a few 
brief suggestions. 

From various Scripture accounts, it would seem 
that the known presence of even one celestial 
being, especially if such being is so manifested as 
to be plainly beheld with the physical eye, is 
directly calculated to produce considerable disor- 
ganizing effects upon our physical bodies. The 
perceptible character of these effects has, indeed. 



THE END OP HUMAN MORTALITY. 341 

been different with different persons, being modi- 
fied, perhaps, by their differing spiritual conditions. 
Thus, while some have been affected apparently by 
a mild, transforming influence, operating as if 
mesmerically, — others have seemed acted upon 
by a violent, disintegrating force, acting as if 
mechanically. In some, the inner organism seems 
to have received strength and development. 

When the Lord Jesus shall personally come from 
heaven in the end of His reign, those having fallen 
asleep in death are to come — , as we learn, — 
along with Him. The living are then to be caught 
up from the earth to meet Him ; and in the act of 
going to meet the Lord in the air, they are to be 
attended by the raised dead- — by those who, in 
Scripture phrase, shall have slept. These, then, 
must certainly descend to at least very near the 
earth's surface, and, in all probability, will be dis- 
cernible by the natural eye. 

Suppose, now, that on, — on, — in the far future 
of Christ's reign on the earth, man in this mortal 
state has come to have literally fulfilled the 
primeval benedictive volition of his Maker, " re- 
plenish the earth " ; that is, fill it up, or overspread 
its surface with human inhabitants. 

Suppose, also, that through the agency of 
Christianity coupled with science and rendered 
effective by spiritual influences, all Christ's 
terrestrial subjects — the entire human race upon 
earth — have become humanly perfect ; — physical- 
ly, intellectually, morally, and religiously thus ; 
and that, in accordance with this, not only all 
intellectual, moral, and religious wrongs have 
utterly ceased, but also that all physical evils — , 
death excepted, — have either passed away, or be- 
come effectually neutralized. g 

Suppose, moreover, that being "Lord of all," 



3 42 THE ANASTASIS OF THE DEAD. 

both " dead and living/ 7 the Saviour has sought 
and secured the best interests of God's offspring 
universally, — not alone on earth, but also in the 
invisible state, — so that all human beings, every 
where, are progressing in knowledge, goodness, 
and happiness, to the full extent of their ever-in- 
creasing capacities. 

Suppose, still further, that all this being effected, 
the exalted Redeemer, in pursuance of an age-re- 
membered promise, literally descends, in propria 
persona, from the highest heaven, (speaking in 
relation to man,) and — , attended by the angels, 
the apostles, the martyrs, the patriarchs, the 
prophets, the whole company of the deceased, — - 
arrives at some point within the earth's atmos- 
phere ; that, with archangelic voice, as if the same 
were modulated through God's own trumpet, He 
then and there gives forth the word of command • 
and that a delegation numbering many thousands 
of millions, — the official mediums, the active 
vehicles, of His vivifying energy, — come down at 
once into close proximity with the dwellings of 
men, and render themselves visible to physical 
sight, in angelic splendor, and celestial glory. 

Of such a visit, in such circumstances, what 
ought we to consider would be the natural results 
upon earth's countless multitudes ? What, less 
than the phenomena revealed through the apostle ? 
Suppose their production, then, to be the chief 
design of the visit. 

Taking into consideration the degree of spiritual 
advancement which, according to the supposition, 
will at that time have been reached by the in- 
habitants of earth, evincing, in each, a development 
of " the inward man," or spiritual organism, to an 
extent not only unattained as yet, but scarcely by 
us conceivable, it should by no means be deemed 



THE END OF HUMAN MORTALITY. 343 

incredible that, upon the simultaneous advent to 
earth of so many myriads from the celestial realms, 
glowing with more than sun-like brightness, their 
countenances radiant with the quickening power 
of the all-conquering Son of God, just such a 
change as Paul describes would occur instan- 
taneously, and be immediately followed by such 
an ascension, — in that the animal organizations of 
those then in the flesh would be dissolved " in a 
moment," — their spiritual organizations be per- 
fected and quickened " in the twinkling of an eye," 
— and the thus new-born celestials (, a whole 
worldful,) be attracted, even by structural levita- 
tion, not to say by a sacred sympathy, up to that 
aerial altitude at which Jesus would be waiting. 

" The whole family in heaven and earth " being 
now, even literally, " gathered together in one 7 ', 
they ascend, with rejoicing, to the home of the 
Saviour, in the house, even the heaven, of the 
" Father of all/' And the work of Christ being 
finished as the Viceroy of Jehovah, he (, that 
God, even the Father, may be all in all,) now 
delivers up his kingdom, taking rank but as a sub- 
ject of the Universal Sovereign, and the Scripture 
is fulfilled w 7 hich says, u Then/' is 

"the end." 



INDEX 

OF ARGUMENTS, EXPOSITIONS, &C. 



' m 9 m 

Page. 
Pharisees admitted, Sadducees denied, the fact of a resurrec- 
tion 9 

Common mistake as to the Pharisees' doctrine concerning the 
resurrection. Their doctrine equivalent to that of the trans- 
migration of souls 10 

(What some Elias-John, or John-Elias, is needed for in this 

age. ) • .-.. 11 

The phrase " born in sins ' ' explained 12 

Manner and time of soul-transmigrations as held by the 

Pharisees 13 

The Pharisees' doctrine as to the resurrection, and their doc- 
trine of possession by demons, closely allied 13 

The Sadducees' denial of any resurrection equivalent to a denial 

that there is any future life 14 

The difficulty resolved that John, the Baptist, is said to be and 

not to be Elias 15 

The spirit or sou.1 of man defined 17 

Pneuma, Phantasma, Psuche, defined 18 

Sense (, in some texts,) of the phrases "my soul," "his 

soul," &c - 18 

Life of the body. Dying 19 

Zoe, Anthropos 19 

Man not a dual being — 19 

Death represented by a falling ; life after death, by a rising;. . 19 

also symbolized by sleeping; life after death, by waking. . 20 

Anistemi, Egeiro, (including Egeiromai,) Anastasis, Egersis. . . 20 
Remarks on the word resurrection, as coining from the Latin 
"resurrectio" , also, as being a translation of the Greek 

4 ' anastasis' ' 21 

Unusual senses of anastasis and anistemi; also, of egeiro (in the 

passive form) 22 

" The dead", a plural expression, — Hoi Nekroi, plural also. 23 

are usually dead persons ; ki a few rare instances, dead 

bodies '. 23 

" The resurrection of the dead" and "the resurrection from 

the dead," not the same in import 23 

Wrong rendering in Acts i\\ 2 25 

Apo and Ek or Ex defined, and the sense of each illustrated 26 

" From the dead", its rare sense, and its usual sense 27 

Hades, Literally, something not seen. Used for the state or con- 
dition of "the dead," they being invisible to physical sight. . 28 

. The usage of the term in the New Testament 29 

, in the Scriptures, not the name of a juace, except by a 

rhetorical figure 29 

Aidios. Its true sense, in the New Testament, "unseen" 31 

29 



346 INDEX. 

Page. 

Risings from the dead, — all to a state of mortality excepting % 

Christ's alone 32 

Proofs that Christ laid down the life of his fleshly body, and 

afterward resumed it 33 

Aparche. Usually rendered " first fruits." — Properly, "a 

sample," or " a specimen." . 34 

" The resurrection from the dead " specifically defined 34 

Supposed peculiar sense, in at least two texts, of the phrase 

rendered " from the dead" 35 

" A natural body " and " a spiritual body. " — The former pro- 
perly " an animal body." 36 

Psuchikos. Pneumatikos 37 

The two kinds of bodies mentioned by Paul, specifically defined. 37 

Zoopoieo. Usually rendered ' ' quicken. ' ' 37 

, its primary sense 38 

, its sense as applied to man in the future life . . . ' 38 

, its sense as applied to persons in this mode of being. . 38 

Phthartos, Thnetos, Phthora, Diaphthoria, To Thneton, Aph- 

thartos, ( Athanatos,) Aphtharsia 39 

"Incorruption," in the common rendering, should be s " incor- 
ruptibility." 40 

* Immortality," in one place in the Common Version, should be 

' ' incorruptness' ' * 40 

Athanasia 40 

Both incorruptibility and immortality, when affirmed of man in 

the hereafter life, have reference solely to bodily organization. 41 

Akatalutos 41 

Thoughts on the resurrectional organism as being incorruptible 

and immortal 41 

Remarks on the text affirming that God " only hath immor- 
tality." 42 

Allassomai (from allasso) 45 

A miraculous " change." ... 46 

The Scripture doctrine of immortality, not invalidated by cer- 
tain fine-spun theorizings, were they even proved. 46 

«« The resurrection of the dead," specifially defined - 47 

" The quickening of the dead", defined 47 

The resurrection indispensable to future life. — This argued 

from Christ's argumentation addressed to the Sadducees ; 48 

Also, from what Paul says as to Christians perishing if 

there were no resurrection 49 

The question as to the " why" of the above argued fact, answer- 
ed in the spirit of Matt. xl. 26 49 

Word rendered " gospel." 49 

Remarks on the phrase * ' in Christ. " 50 

An inner organism argued — from what is said, in one text, 

about the "outward man' ' and "the inward " ; 51 

Also, from " the whole creation " being in labor; 52 

Also, from the existence of spiritual sight and hearing 53 

Rationale of the future-life thought 54 

Aion. In the sense of age 54 

The preposition Eis 55 

Aion, in the sense of Spiritual Being 56 

, in the sense of life, or mode of being 53 

, defined, Lexicon-wise 57 

Aionios defined 58 



INDEX. 347 

Page. 

Aionios, in the sense of " pertaining to the age" 58 

, in the sense of age-lasting 59 

, in the sense of ' ' lasting. "... _ _ 59 

Aionios life, mostly spiritual or religious life. Sometimes, per- 
haps, celestial life 59 

Spiritual or religious life defined 60 

Death, as the opposite, or rather the absence of spiritual life. . 61 

Words rendered 4 ' judgment. " 62 

Word rendered * ' perdition " 62 

Diabolos. Usually rendered "devil." Its Scriptural applica- 
tion 64—66 

Satanas. Specific difference in signification between the terms 

devil and satan 66 

Satanas or satan not a proper name 66 

Possessing spirits or devils, properly demons. These defined. 

Supposed to be the cause of various diseases 67 

" A spirit of divination." Query as to it 68 

Why demons were deemed "unclean" 68 

Word rendered "angel," Signifies, in general, messenger. 

Sometimes, also, representative 71 

Heaven, what it imports literally, — its various applications, — 

the Christian sense of the term 71 

-, the name of a place, as well as of a state 71 

-, hints as to its locality 72 

A " couchant" objection rendered at least dormant 72 

Word rendered " heaven", often pluralized in the Scriptures. .. 73 

Query as to an actual plurality of spiritual heavens 73 

Coming of Christ. Parousia 73 

Two comings of Christ after His first appearance among men. . 74 
Suppositions tending to a solution of the problem whether or 

not Adam was created immortal. 75 

Remarks on certain texts which speak of death as resulting 

from sin 76 

Argument from the Scripture position that " the gospel" is cal- 
culated to " comfort " at least all Christian mourners 80 

"The last enemy.".... 81 

Argument from the Scripture declaration that death is to be at 

last " destroyed" 82 

Destruction of cities, nations, &c > 83 

What is meant by being cast out of God's presence 84 

" Everlasting destruction " explained 85 

Comments on certain texts teaching the destruction of indivi- 
duals 86 

" The second death." 88 

" Eternal life" not the same as immortal life. The former, how- 
ever, to be at length universal 89 

The materiality of the soul and the indestructibility of matter, 
if proved, no proof of the soul's endless existence, much less 

of its life 90 

Christ shows that the so-called " dead " are in reality " living" 91 
Comments on the text, " Man giveth up the ghost, and where 

is he"? 92 

on the text, " In that very day his thoughts perish" . 93 

Admission that the Scriptures do not assert the immortality of 

the soul 96 



348 INDEX. 

Page. 
Argument from the presence of Moses and Elias on the mount 

of our Lord's transfiguration 99 

The transfiguration of Christ, a reality 100 

The ''bright cloud." " The glory of the Lord." 102 

Argument from the text, "I go to prepare a place for you," &c. 104 

from "joy in the presence of the angels of God," &c . . 105 

from " Paul's desire to depart, and to be with Christ." 106 

from " We walk by faith, not by sight," &c 107 

Exposition of the text, " The dead know not any thing," &c. .. 108 

Sleep put for death 112 

Quotation from an old School Book 114 

Resurrection of the earthly body, however explained, impossible 

in most cases 115 

Supposed amputation of the leg of a "mite." 116 

Resurrection of the earthly body, useless 117 

■ , unscriptural 117 

Answer to the argument from Christ's taking on his former 

body 118 

Remarks on the texts, "shall also quicken your mortal bodies," 

and "shall change our vile body." 119 

on Ezekiel's vision of dry bones 120 

■ on the account that " many bodies of the saints which 

slept, arose." 121 

Arguments drawn from the facts that no direct mention is made 
of more than one resurrection in 1 Cor. 15th, nor in all Paul's 
Epistles, nor in Christ's conversation with the Sadducecs; 
and that Paul, when before Felix, spoke of " a resurrection" 

including "both just and unjust." 124 

Remarks on the text mentioning those who " shall be account- 
ed worthy," &c 127 

on " the resurrection of the just." 128 

Comments upon those three texts which directly teach two re- 
surrections in some sense 130—132 

A brief millenium 133 

Spiritual or religious resurrections 134 

Nineteenth-Century Christians, — small prospect of their shar- 
ing in the first resurrection 135 

Proofs that the " time of trouble " predicted by Daniel, and 
the "great tribulation" foretold by Christ, were really in 

the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans 136 

Arguments from the facts that in the parable of the sheep and 
goats — , so called, — nothing is said of a resurrection; nor 
in 1 Cor. 15th is any thing said of a judgment ; and that 
no where, in the Scriptures, are the resurrection and the 

judgment set forth as accompanying events 136 — 139 

Remarks on the text wherein Christ avers that his "word" 

shall "judge " some " in the last day 140 

on the text mentioning "eternal judgment." 141 

Proofs that Christ was to "come" (, and this too for judg- 
ment,) at the close of the Jewish age 146 

Comments on the text, " He hath appointed a day," &c 148 

A ' 'judgment' ' during the gospel day 150 

Illustration of those eight texts containing the phrase " day of 

judgment." 151 — 156 

" The day of judgment " is rightly — not " the", but — " a 
day" &c , except in one text 152 



INDEX. 349 

Page. 
Greek^word rendered " judgment " in the phrase for day of 

judgment, define:!. — May have the sense of " crisis." 152 

Day of judgment, according to Peter, is sometimes equivalent to 

day of punishment or retribution ; 154 

Also, is sometimes a day of " perdition " or destruction. .. 154 
Admissions of "eminent commentators" as to the actual teach- 
ings of some of the texts mentioning " day of judgment." . .. 157 
Opinion of the author of this work as to the actual import of 

the Saviour's affirmation, 4 ' It shall be more tolerable," &c. . 157 
Brief exposition of the text, " And as it is appointed to men 

once to die, but after this the judgment;" 158 

Remarks on the judgment in Rev. 20th 160 

Argument from the absurdity of supposing that a good God, 

oiher things being equal, will do just what an Evil god 

would ..' > 162—164 

The goodness of a fruit-tree's fruit is to be judged of when the 

fruit is ripe; so the argument from God's goodness has re- 

f ference only to final results 164 

Argument from the unreasonableness of supposing that Divine 

justice requires an impossibility 165 

from that text which declares that " Charity re- 

joiceth in the truth." 166 

■ from the fact that good people sometimes suffer greatly 

from believing in endless punishment 167 

• from the consideration that benevolent feelings do not 



cease with the present life 170 

— from the text, " The Lord will not cast off for ever;" &c 171 
• from certain questions which greatly ""troubled" the 



Psalmist 173 

— — from the solemn declaration of God, ts I will not con- 
tend for ever," &c 173 

- from various similar texts . 174 



Remarks on the words of David to Solomon 9 li If thou forsake 
him, he will cast thee off for ever." 174 

on the parable of the sheep and goats (so called) ; 174 

Also, a synopsis of an exposition thereof. 175 

Who those were who were not placed on either the right hand 
or the left 176 

Argument from the apostle's comments on the text, " Thou 
hast put all things under his feet. " , 179 

Those five texts considered in which a raising up at the last day 
is mentioned 182 — 184 

Argument from the fact that in three of the five texts mention- 
ing the last-day resurrection, the raising is promised to 
believers only 183 

from the consideration that " the last day " is a 

natural expression for the terminus of that period Scrip tural- 

ly denominated " the last days.". 185 

from the fact in the last day unbelievers were to be 

judged 186 

■ from the consideration that raising and judging in 

the last day are evidently the same as the two resurrections 

in John 5th 186 

■ from the highly figurative language found in connec- 
tion with the last-day resurrection 187 



350 INDEX. 

Pago 

Probable idea of Martha when she spoke of her brother's rising 

at the last day 187 

Plow Judas was lost 189 

Did Judas hang himself? 190 

New rendering of John xi, 25, 26 192 

An original rendering (, in a few texts,) of the phrase "eis ton 

aiona " 1 92 

Argument from what Paul claimed to "know," in 2 Cor. v. 1. 194 
from the apostle's apparent repugnance to being "un- 
clothed", or divested of a bodily organization 195 

A Jewish manner of expressing a strong preference 196 

A second argument from what Paul says as to Christians perish- 
ing if there were no resurrection — 197 

A third argument from what Paul says as to Christians perish- 
ing if there were no resurrection 198 

Argument from Paul's making mention of those " that are 

heavenly." , 200 

Objection to the common doctrine concerning angels, that no 

Scripture account exists of heir creation as such 203 

Angels such by virtue of office ...» 204 

Objection to the notion that angels are mere appearances 204 

Three objections to the doctrine that all human beings become 

angels at de th 205 

Several objections to the common doctrine concerning evil 

angels 206 

The devil's angels, the devil's preachers, Satan's ministers, 207 

" Apollyon." "Bottomless pit." * 209 

The " evil spirit" which " troubled" king Saul 211 

The " lying spirit" which " enticed' ' king Ahab 211 

Pirect Scriptural proof that the spiritual angels are rll good 

beigs 213 

Official business of angels . .-. «... 215 

Guardian angels 217 

The angels of certain " little ones. " « • • 218 

Peter's "angel." 219 

Proposed rendering of Heb. i. 13, 14 - 221 

Have all persons rmgelic guardians? 221 

Powers or capabilities of augels 223 

The means by which the Lord " stirred up the spirit" of king 

Cyrus ; 225 

What of " spiritual manifestations " ? 225 

Nature of angels, or their mode of being 227 

Origin of angels. Testimony going to show that they are de- 
parted human beings 229 

Four interesting: questions answered 330 

A new proof of an after-death life • . • . 234 

Christ's reply to the Sadducees considered at some length.. 237— 243 
A present or passing resurrection argued from various points in 

our Lord's reply to the Sadducees 237—243 

Objections answered : 

1. That the tenses of Greek verbs are not always reliable as to 
time 243 

2. That the future tense sometimes occurs in texts relating to 
the resurrection 242 



INDEX. 351 

Pagei 

3. That the present tense, when nsed in connection with the 
resurrection, must have a future sense, because we are 
told, in one place, that God " calleth those things that are 
not as though they were. " 244 

4. That rhe Sadducees used the future tense in putting their 
question to Christ ... - 246 

5. That Christ made use of the future tense in His answer to 
the Sadducees 247 

Denial that He, in replying to the Sadducees, made use of a 
tense clearly future 247 

Three arguments to show that in His reply to the Sadducees, 
our Lord actually had reference to just that division of time 
which His language naturally indicates 248 

Objections answered; 

6. That the infinitive verb "to obtain" may have a future 
sense 249 

7. That we read, " For David is not ascended into the 
heavens." 251 

Argument from the text, " The Father raiseth up the dead", &c 253 

from the text speaking of " God, who raiseth the 

dead," &c 255 

f:om the true rendering of Acts xxvi. 8 255 

from Paul's applying the present tense to the resurrec- 
tion a dozen or more of times in 1 Cor. 15th 256 

from Paul's coupling the verb " is raised " four times 

in one sentence with the verb " is sown. " 257 

from his coupling: the present tense with past tenses. . . 258 

from his using the present of the passive instead of the 

present of the intransitive 158 

from his making an objector say U How are the dead 

raised," &c 260 

Objections answered : 

8. That Paul says some had erred, saying that the resurrec- 
tion is past already. " 262 

9. That Christ is declared to " the first-born from the dead." 262 
6 ' First-born " shown sometimes to relate — not to priority, but 

— to dignity or eminence 264 

Objection answered ; 

10. That Paul, before Agrippa, spoke expressly concerning: 
Christ, that it had been predicted of Him " that He should 

be the first that should rise from the dead." 265 

Acts xxvi. 23, shown to have been subjected to a singularly un- 
faithful rendering 265 

The common rendering of a certain Greek phrase in Acts xxvi. 
23, compared with the rendering of the same phrase in 

Rom. i 4 265 

Supposed philosophy of the common rendering of a certain 

Greek phrase in Rom. i. 4 266 

Acts xxvi. 23, rendered after the manner of Rom. i. 4 257 

The questions considered at some length, what it is that is sown, 
and what it is that is raised, where the apostle says, "It is 
sown in corruption ; it is raised in incrrruption," &c . .268 — 276 

A literal rendering of 1 Cor. xv. 35-38, 42-44 272 

A paraphrastic rendering of 1 Cor. xv. 42-44 275 

A free translation of 1 Cor. xv. 42-44 275 



852 INDEX. 

,».,-: Page. 

The primitive gospel, as announced by the first Christian 

preachers, mostly historical 277 

The order of events only partially given in th-> Gospels 279 

The idea advanced that where Paul seems to be declaring the 
order of Christ's appearing^, he is simply recounting the 

order of subjects presented in certa n discourses of his 279 

One real discrepancy in the accounts of Mary Magdalene's 
movements on the morning of Christ's resurrection. — This 
easily accounted for \ the mistake a perfectly natural one ; her 
actual movements known; — the existence of the discrepancy 
by no means detracts any thing from the credibility of the 

Gospel History 280 

Brief narrative of a train of events preceding, including, at- 
tending, and following our Lord's Crucifixion 283 — 292 

"Assurance rendered doubly sure " that Jesus, when taken 

from the cross, was, as to His body, actuallydead 291 

Our Saviour's Resurrection, and Appearings , 293 — 300 

Criticism on John xx. 28 299 

Christ's Ascension 301 

Some of the proofs of the existence of a future life for man*. 304 — 310 
A child's philosophy. 

Originals of the heathen gods and goddesses 304 

Argument from the fact that it seems to be natural for man to 

believe in an other life - 305 

Our Saviour's anti-Sadducean argument and a similar one 305 

In what estimation the first Christians held the fact of Christ's 

resurrection as evidence of the existenee of a future life 308 

How the first Christians came by their " hope." 305 

A new and surprising event in the childhood of the race, illus- 
trating the manner in which life and immortality were brought 

to light through the gospel 308 

"The offense of "the cross." 310 

Supposed philosophy of Paul's argumentation in 1 Cor. 15th... 310 
Some of the effects which the evidences of Christianity produced 

in the views and feelings of the early Christians 313 

A new Translation of 1 Cor. 1 5th, with preliminary remarks 

and appendant notes 315 — 323 

Revelation as to the end of human mortality. • • 324 

" An atom" of time 328 

A personal " coming" or arrival of Christ » 327 

A somewhat questionable conjecture as to the autographic 

reading of 1 Cor. xv. 51 330 

A literal rendering of 1 Thess. iv. 13-17 331 

A literal rendering of 1 Cor. xv. 23 332 

Death, an "enemy" 334 

Critical remarks upon the text, "For this corruptible must 

put on incorruption,'' &c 336 

Supposed character of the last " change.'' 339 

A partly paraphrastical rendering of 1 Cor. xv. 22-24 340 

Supposed mode of operation in the production of the last 

"change." 340 

The Finale 343 




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